There is a simple question that says a lot about how accessible a business really is, and it has nothing to do with your website, your branding or how many followers you have on social media.

It鈥檚 this: if someone wanted to become your customer at 7pm tonight, could they?

Not because they鈥檙e in an emergency or because they expect you to be working late, but because that鈥檚 when they finally have the time. After a full day at work, the school run, dinner and everything else life throws at them, the evening is often the first chance people get to deal with the jobs they鈥檝e been putting off. They remember they need to book the dentist, find a solicitor, arrange a quote for a new boiler or speak to an accountant before the weekend.

When that moment arrives, they鈥檙e not casually browsing. They鈥檝e decided to do something about it.

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The Hidden Cost Of After-Hours Enquiries

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For a long time, businesses haven鈥檛 really questioned what happens next. If the office is closed, the phone rings out or goes to voicemail. The assumption has always been that anyone who is genuinely interested will simply call back tomorrow.

The trouble is, tomorrow has a habit of getting in the way. The person who was ready to book last night is back in meetings by 9am. They forget. They get distracted. They search again during their lunch break and call somebody else who happens to answer. Sometimes they never make another enquiry at all.

It鈥檚 easy to underestimate what an after-hours call actually represents. By the time someone has searched for your business, looked through your website and picked up the phone, they鈥檝e already invested time. They鈥檙e much further along the decision-making process than someone scrolling through adverts or comparing options for the first time. In many cases, they鈥檙e looking for reassurance rather than persuasion.

That鈥檚 why evening enquiries are often some of the strongest leads a business receives. They come from people who have already decided they need help and are looking for someone who can make the next step easy.

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Customer Expectations Have Changed

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Customer behaviour has changed a lot over the last decade. We don鈥檛 think twice about ordering groceries late in the evening, booking holidays on a Sunday afternoon or managing our banking from the sofa. We鈥檝e become used to doing things when they fit around our lives instead of arranging our lives around opening hours. The problem is, service businesses haven鈥檛 always kept pace with that shift.

Nobody expects a receptionist to work into the evening, and no business owner should feel they have to answer every call personally. The issue is about making sure customers don鈥檛 reach a dead end when they鈥檙e finally ready to get in touch.

How AI Receptionists Keep Businesses Available

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This is where AI is starting to make a genuine difference, not because it replaces people, but because it fills the gap between when customers want to act and when businesses are available.

An AI receptionist can answer questions, collect information and book appointments while the business owner is having dinner, spending time with family or simply enjoying a well-earned evening off.

For the customer, it feels like progress instead of delay. They don鈥檛 have to remember to call back tomorrow because they鈥檝e already taken the next step. For the business, it means opportunities aren鈥檛 quietly slipping away overnight without anyone even realising.

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Is Your Business Ready For The 7pm Test?

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The businesses that grow over the next few years probably won鈥檛 do so because they鈥檙e using the newest technology for the sake of it. They鈥檒l grow because they鈥檙e removing small points of friction that have existed for years but were easy to ignore. A missed call at 7pm doesn鈥檛 feel like a major problem until you realise how many potential customers never come back.

So perhaps every business should ask itself the same question. If someone decided tonight that they wanted to work with you, would they be able to do something meaningful, or would they simply be asked to call again tomorrow?

The answer might reveal more about your customer experience than any online review ever could.

The post Could Your Business Pass The 7pm Test? appeared first on 91探花.

But now, two years later, that description is starting to feel a little outdated, because Durov is back in hot water once again.

This week, Russia formally charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism and announced plans to place him on an international wanted list. According to Reuters, Russian authorities allege that Telegram has been used by Ukrainian intelligence services to coordinate attacks inside Russia and recruit individuals through channels and bots operating on the platform. Both Durov and Telegram deny any wrongdoing.

The allegations themselves are significant and raise a plethora of important questions 鈥� like how can messaging platforms be used for political purposes, who should control user activity and how much should activity be controlled at all? But perhaps the bigger here is what these allegations in particular reveal about Telegram鈥檚 place in the modern technology landscape.

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From Messaging App To Digital Infrastructure

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When Telegram launched in 2013, it was largely positioned as an alternative to WhatsApp and other messaging services. With a little more focus on group messaging and other special features, it was adopted by a fairly significant number of people, although it never got close to seriously competing with WhatsApp on a serious level.

As we previously reported, Telegram surpassed one billion monthly active users earlier this year. At that scale, it鈥檚 no longer just a place where people send messages. Now, it鈥檚 where news is consumed, communities are built, businesses operate and political movements communicate. Thus, quite different to WhatsApp.

According to a 2026 academic study, Telegram鈥檚 bot ecosystem alone supports everything from moderation and e-commerce to financial services and automated trading tools. Researchers described bots as a form of software infrastructure rather than simply platform features.听That evolution is important in this discussion, because infrastructure attracts a different level of scrutiny than apps do, and that鈥檚 kind of always been the case.

Governments may tolerate a messaging platform, but they tend to pay much closer attention to communications networks that influence politics, public opinion and national security. Especially in recent years鈥�

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Durov鈥檚 Balancing Act

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One of the reasons Durov has become such a fascinating figure in tech is that he鈥檚 spent much of his career positioning himself as resistant to government control.

After leaving Russia in 2014 following disputes with authorities over his previous company VKontakte, Durov built Telegram around privacy, encryption and independence. According to AP News, he has repeatedly presented himself as a defender of free expression against state interference, and he鈥檚 done so pretty openly.

But, Telegram鈥檚 growth has (arguably) made that position harder to maintain.

As 91探花 covered following Durov鈥檚 French arrest, Telegram has gradually introduced measures that would once have seemed unthinkable for a platform built on absolute privacy. The company expanded moderation efforts and introduced new reporting mechanisms for private chats, moves many observers interpreted as an attempt to demonstrate greater cooperation with regulators.

The result is an increasingly difficult balancing act. Governments want stronger oversight, while users often want more privacy. So, how can they make everybody happy?

Unsurprisingly, the answer isn鈥檛 simple, and Telegram appears stuck in the middle.

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Why Governments Keep Coming Back To Telegram

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What鈥檚 especially interesting about the latest case is that Russia isn鈥檛 actually the only government scrutinising the platform. Australia has also launched legal action against Telegram over alleged extremist content, while European regulators continue debating the responsibilities of large digital platforms. Telegram disputes the allegations and says it removes terrorist-related material when identified.

Meanwhile, researchers continue to study Telegram鈥檚 role in everything from political communication to misinformation networks and wartime information sharing. Studies examining the Russia-Ukraine conflict have described Telegram as a major battlefield for competing narratives, highlighting its influence far beyond private messaging.

That may explain why governments increasingly view Telegram as something more consequential than a social app.

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Is This a Sign Of What Comes Next?

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Sure, it would be easy to frame Russia鈥檚 latest move as just another chapter in a long-running dispute between the Kremlin and one of Russia鈥檚 most famous tech entrepreneurs.

But there may be a broader lesson for the tech industry, and Australia鈥檚 similar unhappiness with Telegram points to this too.

As platforms grow larger, they often evolve beyond their original purpose. Indeed, social networks become media companies, e-commerce platforms become logistics businesses and ride-hailing apps become transport infrastructure. It鈥檚 all part of the process, and in some ways, it鈥檚 just a result of natural growth. And at this point, it seems like Telegram may be going through a similar transformation.

The platform still delivers messages, but it also hosts political movements, distributes news, powers businesses, supports financial activity and increasingly sits at the centre of international disputes. Whether Russia鈥檚 allegations (as well as those raised by Australian authorities) ultimately lead anywhere remains to be seen, but what seems clearer is that Telegram鈥檚 importance now extends far beyond casual chat bubbles and group conversations.

The post Russia’s Latest Move Against Pavel Durov Shows That Telegram Is No Longer Just A Messaging App appeared first on 91探花.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $90.1 billion, up 18% year-on-year. Azure grew 43%, crossing $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Profit rose 31% to $35.8 billion. Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats. Meta reported revenue up 28% to $60.8 billion. And free cash flow fell 91%, from $8.55 billion to $784 million, as capital expenditure on AI infrastructure rose 83% to $31.08 billion in a single quarter.

Two tech giants navigating the same era of heavy AI investment, yet yielding wildly different financial results.

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Why Microsoft鈥檚 Numbers Work

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The real strength of Microsoft鈥檚 AI strategy comes down to anchoring on software people already pay for.

Azure provides the essential foundation. AI workloads are driving cloud migration and consumption, with AI services contributing an estimated 16 percentage points of Azure鈥檚 growth in recent quarters. Copilot is a direct monetisation play inside Microsoft 365, a product with enormous enterprise reach. When a company upgrades to Copilot, Microsoft gets paid more for something it was already selling. The AI investment flows through existing, high-margin channels into incremental revenue that shows up directly in earnings. The Intelligent Cloud segment, which houses Azure, grew 32% year-on-year to $39.3 billion.

AI isn鈥檛 a cost centre here, AI actively drives profit for Microsoft. Setting aside $190 billion for 2026 capital spending feels justified while Azure scales at 43% and Copilot commands 30 million paid seats.

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Why Meta鈥檚 Numbers Don鈥檛 Work

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Meta鈥檚 situation is structurally different, and that changes how the numbers read.

Revenue was up 28%, driven by AI improvements to ad targeting and content recommendations. Those improvements are tangible and they鈥檙e working. But they鈥檙e incremental gains on a mature advertising business, not new high-margin revenue streams. Meta hasn鈥檛 yet launched a widely adopted, directly paid AI product comparable to Copilot or Azure AI services. The AI investment is improving what already exists rather than creating something customers pay for separately.

The essential metric here remains the cash flow figure. Free cash flow of $784 million on $60.8 billion in revenue translates to a margin of barely 1%. The prior year quarter produced $8.55 billion in free cash flow. That collapse reflects $31.08 billion in quarterly capital expenditure, an 83% year-on-year increase, for AI infrastructure whose returns are still largely theoretical.

Meta鈥檚 2026 capex guidance sits at $115 to $135 billion for the full year. The payoff, when it arrives, may be large. Right now it isn鈥檛 arriving.

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What This Tells Founders And Operators

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The Microsoft-Meta divergence is the clearest picture yet of what good AI investment looks like versus what AI spending as a long-term bet looks like.

Microsoft鈥檚 approach, embedding AI into products that already have paying customers and clear monetisation paths, is generating returns that accrete to earnings and cash flow today. Meta鈥檚 approach, heavy infrastructure investment for products whose commercial form isn鈥檛 yet clear, is consuming cash at an extraordinary rate. Without Meta鈥檚 balance sheet, it wouldn鈥檛 be sustainable.

For founders weighing up AI spending in their own businesses, the Microsoft model is the more useful perspective. AI that improves a product people already pay for, at a price point that reflects the improvement, generates returns. AI that builds toward a future product without a current monetisation path generates costs. Both strategies make complete sense assuming one has the scale and financial backing. Most companies only ever have the breathing room to try one.

Meta may prove its bet right. The foundations it鈥檚 building could underpin products that generate returns at scale within a few years. But the 91% free cash flow drop is a reminder that big bets on AI require extraordinary balance sheets to absorb the cost of being early. For the vast majority of businesses, the lesson from this earnings season isn鈥檛 to spend like Meta. It鈥檚 to build like Microsoft.

The post How Microsoft Proved AI Returns While Meta鈥檚 Cash Flow Collapsed appeared first on 91探花.

The Government says schools, colleges, mayors, local leaders and employers will work together to build technical education around the jobs available in each area. Digital technology and AI are some of the sectors that could be built into these new routes.

The plans are due to start rolling out from September 2028, that鈥檇 give students the chance to study English, maths and science as well as technical subjects connected to local industries.

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What Will Students Actually Get To Do?

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A student interested in AI or tech could study a vocational digital qualification with their usual academic subjects, visit local tech employers, work on projects set by businesses and spend time in a workplace.

The Government says this could give teenagers a better understanding of the jobs available in their area and the skills employers need before they decide on their next move at 16. The routes could also cover advanced manufacturing, clean energy, life sciences, construction, health and care and creative industries, depending on local jobs.

Burnham said, 鈥淔or too long in this country, students have been told that you must take the academic path to do well and to be respected. The whole school system has been built around it and that has let down young people seeking technical qualifications.

鈥淚 want an education system based on parity between academic and technical which gives all young people a clear path in life. From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap.

鈥淚n a fundamental change to the education system, we will introduce new technical education pathways from 14 鈥� prestigious routes that will give students the chance to combine the core academic subjects with the skills, technical knowledge and experience they need to get quality, well-paid jobs where they live. My message to young people is this 鈥� whether you choose construction, coding or classics, or maths, manufacturing or mechanics, you鈥檒l get the skills you need and be given the respect you deserve.

鈥淔ixing the youth unemployment crisis in Britain will require a major shake-up in how we do things 鈥� and that鈥檚 what this government will do. I want to ensure that our education system leaves no dead ends for our young people. The changes we鈥檙e announcing today will just be the start of our work to restore opportunity and hope across the country.鈥�

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Why Are Businesses Being Brought Into Schools?

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Gary Watson, Managing Director of Stellanor, said students need to learn about the people and infrastructure behind the tech they use, saying, 鈥淚f we鈥檙e serious about connecting young people with the industries of the future, data centres need to be part of the conversation. Every AI breakthrough making headlines runs on physical infrastructure, and that infrastructure needs people to build it, run it and keep it moving.

鈥淏eyond the engineers running the facilities, there鈥檚 a whole ecosystem of construction, electrical, and logistics roles feeding the sector鈥檚 growth, along with local suppliers and businesses that benefit as these sites expand. These are skilled, local careers that most pupils never know exist. The earlier we introduce young people to the opportunities that exist in the sector through apprenticeships and real world experience, the better equipped the industry will be to close the skills gap and meet future demand.鈥�

Faye Ellis, Principal Training Architect at Pluralsight, said businesses also need to help schools connect technical learning to actual employment.

鈥淔or decades, the message to young people has been that school followed by university is the most certain route to a successful career. Today鈥檚 announcement should change that perception 鈥� with in-demand skills like manufacturing and AI being introduced as subjects much earlier in schools, to build a pipeline of talent to be taken into the workplace.

鈥淏ut the NEET crisis is about more than expanding access to training; it鈥檚 also about ensuring there are meaningful employment opportunities waiting at the end. Young people need to understand where vocational courses can take them, and training is far more effective when it鈥檚 connected to a real job opportunity or a specific employer.

鈥淎t the same time, businesses cannot expect the government and educators to solve the problem without them, particularly when employers are best placed to understand which skills are needed in the workplace. They should also work directly with schools and colleges to shape these vocational courses around real opportunities, including project-based experience or guaranteeing interviews to people who complete relevant training.

鈥淎ddressing the NEET crisis will take time, but the UK can still change its trajectory and Burnham鈥檚 early commitment is a positive first step if the right ingredients follow.鈥�

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Industry Leaders React To The News

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Industry leaders have shared their different views on the government鈥檚 new plans. Here鈥檚 what they think鈥�

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Our Experts:

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• Peter Pugh-Jones, EMEA Field CDO, Confluent
• Richard Anderton, Head of Education, Sync
• Andy Coussins, Executive Vice President, International, Epicor
• Alex Sarychkin, English Teacher, MyEdSpace
• Louis Provis, English Teacher, MyEdSpace
• Richard Thompson, CEO, ANS
• Juan Mathews Rebello Santos, Cybersecurity Researcher, Ethical Hacker, Founder, BNVD.org
• Harpal Singh, AI SEO & GEO Consultant, Fractional CMO, Founder, Blimpp
• Madhusudan Dora, Founder, Aptocoiner Analytics

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Peter Pugh-Jones, EMEA Field CDO, Confluent

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鈥淭he decision to put technical subjects on a more equal footing with traditional academic subjects in schools is a welcome development. It will give young people earlier exposure to skills such as AI and help businesses build the technically capable workforce they increasingly need.

鈥淕iving students clearer routes to technical careers will help build a future workforce that鈥檚 equipped to use new tools to solve real-world problems. However, AI is only as effective as the data behind it, so young people will also need a strong understanding of how information is collected, managed and used responsibly.

鈥淭he decision marks a significant shift from focusing solely on the technology to actually investing in the young people who will make it successful. Over the past few years, many businesses have tried to run before they can walk, adopting AI without first putting the right data foundations and training in place to realise its full potential.

鈥淭his is a real opportunity for the UK to rip off the plaster and recognise that simply adopting AI isn鈥檛 enough. Building technical skills from the classroom onwards can help the workforce of the future avoid making that same mistake and prepare them to work alongside these technologies across almost every industry.鈥�

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Richard Anderton, Head of Education, Sync

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鈥淭he ambition to strengthen digital and technology education is a welcome and important step. Making technology subjects compulsory can create lasting impact when it is supported by investment in skilled educators, reliable infrastructure and high-quality professional development.

鈥淭echnology鈥檚 value in education extends beyond devices and curriculum content. Its greatest impact comes when teachers have the confidence and capability to embed it purposefully in teaching and learning.

鈥淓quitable access to technology for students is equally vital. Every pupil should benefit from high-quality technology, connectivity and learning opportunities to ensure they are able to gain the digital skills that they will need in their future workplace, regardless of their background. Digital literacy and AI literacy are key competencies that they will need to be confident with to thrive in their future roles.

鈥淎 successful approach will combine curriculum reform with investment in recruiting and retaining specialist teachers, planning a comprehensive digital strategy, creating well-equipped learning spaces, and providing ongoing training and support.

鈥淲hen this approach is implemented effectively, schools are able to equip pupils with the knowledge, confidence and judgement to use technology critically, creatively and responsibly, to ensure they are prepared for an increasingly technology-driven world.鈥�

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Andy Coussins, Executive Vice President, International, Epicor

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鈥淭he inclusion of technical subjects for young people, such as Manufacturing and AI, is certainly a positive step towards building the workforce the UK requires in the years ahead. Manufacturing has never been an industry that has been afforded the luxury of standing still, and with technologies like AI and robotics, the future of the industry is dependent on people who understand both the craft and the technology. Investing in young people鈥檚 manufacturing and AI skills is an investment in the future of UK manufacturing.

鈥淭he best employees still need to understand how products are made, how different materials behave, what 鈥榞ood鈥� looks like and, crucially, what to do when something goes wrong. Automated systems and robotics handle repetitive tasks efficiently, but they don鈥檛 remove the need for technical knowledge.

鈥淭omorrow鈥檚 workforce will need a blend of practical engineering skills, digital capability, and problem-solving. By equipping young people with both technical and manufacturing knowledge from an early stage, we are helping to build a stronger talent pipeline and strengthening the UK鈥檚 manufacturing sector for the long term.鈥�

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Alex Sarychkin, English Teacher, MyEdSpace

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鈥淚t is encouraging to see serious attention being given to technical education from the age of 14. For too long, the system has treated academic routes as the default and left pupils who do not achieve five GCSE passes with far fewer credible options. Building stronger links between schools, employers, apprenticeships and work experience could help change that.

鈥淗owever, we have been here before. The 14鈥�19 Diploma, T Levels and other vocational reforms have all promised to give technical qualifications equal status, only to be reshaped or abandoned as governments and education policies change. There are already Level 2 functional skills qualifications equivalent to a grade 4 GCSE, but schools can be discouraged from offering them because of how they are treated in league tables.

鈥淭he ambition is welcome, but 2028 is very close. Unless the Government addresses the incentives that continue to favour academic education and commits to a stable, long-term system, this risks becoming another well-intentioned reform that never properly takes root.鈥�

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Louis Provis, English Teacher, MyEdSpace

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鈥淕iving students a broader range of options is a sensible and overdue step. The assumption that university should be the destination for everyone no longer reflects reality, and schools should be helping pupils follow the route that best suits them as individuals. Stronger links with local employers and industries could also open up valuable opportunities and support local economies.

鈥淗owever, asking students to specialise from the age of 14 must be handled carefully. Choosing a narrow route too early can limit young people鈥檚 horizons at a point when their interests, abilities and ambitions are still developing.

鈥淭he other concern is how this will work in practice. Too often, when there is a wider problem in society, schools are expected to solve it without being given additional curriculum space, resources, training or planning time. If these technical subjects are to succeed, the Government should really get specialists to teach them, rather than our already stretched teachers. History shows that we should not be too optimistic about this.鈥�

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Richard Thompson, CEO, ANS

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鈥淭he UK鈥檚 AI ambitions will be defined as much by the talent we develop as the technology we create, and strengthening technical education will help prepare young people for the jobs of the future, as such the announcement today is very welcome.

鈥淏ut secondary school education is only the starting point. The real test is making sure those pathways lead to meaningful work experience, apprenticeships and long-term careers that equip young people with the skills employers are looking for.

鈥淥ne thing we鈥檝e learned through the ANS Academy is that talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn鈥檛. That鈥檚 why strong links between education and industry across the UK will be essential if we鈥檙e going to close the digital skills gap without widening existing divides.

鈥淕iving young people the chance to develop those skills, wherever they live and whatever route they choose into work, will be critical to ensuring AI delivers long-term economic growth across the UK.鈥�

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Juan Mathews Rebello Santos, Cybersecurity Researcher, Ethical Hacker, Founder, BNVD.org

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鈥淢aking tech subjects compulsory from Year 10 is exactly the kind of structural change we need to close the cybersecurity skills gap, but the timing highlights a contradiction that cannot be ignored. You cannot mandate tech education while simultaneously defunding the infrastructure that delivers it. The cancellation of the tech department sends a signal to students that the government does not actually value the subject enough to invest in it.

鈥淔rom where I sit running BNVD.org, I see hundreds of vulnerability disclosures submitted by self taught teenagers who hacked together skills because school never offered them a proper pipeline. Making tech compulsory fixes the access problem in theory, but without qualified teachers, updated equipment, and curriculum that goes beyond basic IT literacy, it risks becoming a box ticking exercise that leaves students no better prepared for real world cybersecurity or engineering challenges. The government has to match the mandate with money, otherwise the announcement reads like political theater rather than genuine reform.鈥�

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Harpal Singh, AI SEO & GEO Consultant, Fractional CMO, Founder, Blimpp

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鈥淎llowing instruction in technical skills at age 14 is the right approach. Digital skills and AI are becoming workplace literacy and are no longer thought of as advanced skills.

鈥淗owever, this cannot be a course developed around the latest software just to fulfill requirements. Students may enter the job market with outdated skills. Schools need to foster critical thinking and teach data skills, digital citizenship, responsible use of AI, fact-checking, and how to solve real-world business challenges.

鈥淭he contradiction is impossible to ignore. Abolishing the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and simultaneously directing schools to teach more technical skills shows a lack of coherence in the Government鈥檚 approach to technology. You cannot teach more technical skills to children while simultaneously reducing the Government鈥檚 investment in technology.

鈥淭he outcome hinges on execution of training and the provision of technology both at school and at home, as well as employer investment and a curriculum that adapts to changing conditions. Without this investment, technical education runs the risk of becoming a poorly taught subject and increasing the divide between children taught digital skills at home and the children who rely on school to teach digital skills.鈥�

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Madhusudan Dora, Founder, Aptocoiner Analytics

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鈥淥ne recent implementation involved a client running a legacy ERP system (Compulink) that relied almost entirely on static PDF reports for operational and executive reporting. While the ERP contained valuable business data, employees had to search through numerous reports or depend on IT whenever new questions arose.

鈥淩ather than connecting AI directly to the ERP database, we first built a modern analytics foundation using Microsoft Fabric. We centralized ERP data in OneLake, implemented a Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers), created an optimized enterprise data warehouse, and designed a governed semantic model enriched with business definitions and AI-friendly metadata.

鈥淭he final step was enabling Microsoft Fabric Data Agents. Business users who previously depended on static reports can now ask natural-language questions such as 鈥淲hat were our sales last month?鈥�, 鈥淲hich customers generated the highest revenue?鈥�, or 鈥淲hich products are declining in sales?鈥� and receive governed, context-aware answers within seconds.

鈥淥ne of the biggest lessons from this project is that AI does not replace data engineering鈥攊t amplifies it. The quality of conversational analytics depends on the quality of the underlying data model. Organisations that invest in data governance, semantic modeling, and business context achieve far more accurate and trustworthy AI responses than those attempting to expose raw transactional databases directly to large language models.鈥�

The post Experts React To The UK鈥檚 Decision To Make Tech Subjects Compulsory In Schools appeared first on 91探花.

The company鈥檚 new Copilot experience brings together Microsoft Copilot chat, GitHub Copilot, Cowork collaboration tools and Autopilots, giving users access to different AI services from one interface.

Microsoft has not given the full information about how the new app will work, but the direction is becoming easier to see. Copilot is being built as a single destination where users can search, write, research, code, manage documents and handle longer tasks.

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What Will Microsoft鈥檚 Copilot Super App Bring Together?

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According to Softonic, Microsoft has confirmed it鈥檒l be coming later this year. Within Microsoft, the project is reportedly known as 鈥淥ne Copilot鈥�.

The concept brings Copilot products into one experience, so users could access Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Cowork and Autopilots without having to keep switching between different Microsoft applications.

Microsoft鈥檚 own Copilot website already presents the service as a service that can handle many different tasks. Users can ask questions, search using their voice, create images, upload PDFs, Word documents and spreadsheets, generate podcasts, research topics and get help writing documents.

Copilot can also work across a user鈥檚 screen through Copilot Vision. Microsoft says Vision can look at what is on screen and respond with guidance in real time. On mobile, users can point their camera at something and ask Copilot to explain what they are seeing.

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How Big Has Copilot Become?

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Microsoft says it now has more than 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. The company also says weekly Copilot engagement is at the same level as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams, while users are having nearly twice as many conversations per user.

The numbers give some context to Microsoft鈥檚 decision to bring its Copilot products together. The company already has people using Copilot for work, coding, research, writing and everyday tasks, giving it a large base for a single app.

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Microsoft鈥檚 Copilot website also shows how many different jobs the service can handle. Smart mode can answer quick questions or spend more time on difficult requests, Copilot Voice works in more than 50 languages, and Deep Research can produce multi page reports.

Users can also ask Copilot to remember information, manage memories through settings and bring recent files, apps and chats back into view on Windows.

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Could Copilot Become An Everyday App?

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The super app concept could make Copilot easier to use because users would have one place for many AI tasks. Someone could use it for personal research in the morning, work documents during the day and coding later without opening separate Copilot products.

Microsoft is giving Copilot more ways to interact with information. Its visual responses can bring together images, videos and answer cards for subjects such as weather, sport, dining and currency. Users can upload their own files and ask Copilot to explain them.

The company has also introduced Copilot Pages for writing and refining content, image creation through Copilot Imagine and podcast generation. These features give the service a wider range of uses than a traditional chatbot.

The super app could become the main place users access Microsoft鈥檚 AI services, with different Copilot tools available through one interface.

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What Does Microsoft Need To Explain?

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Since this wasn鈥檛 an official launch announcement, there are still unanswered questions. Microsoft has not given pricing for the super app, a complete feature list or an explanation of how the existing standalone Copilot apps will work once One Copilot arrives.

Businesses also need more information about identity management, licensing, administrator controls, data access and security. Those details will matter for organisations that already use Microsoft 365 Copilot or GitHub Copilot across their teams.

Microsoft is competing in a really busy market, as Anthropic and OpenAI are also building AI products that bring different capabilities into fewer interfaces. Copilot鈥檚 advantage will come from how well Microsoft brings its existing services together and makes that experience useful for people at work and at home.

The post Microsoft Has Confirmed Copilot鈥檚 Super App Will Launch Soon – But What Is It For? appeared first on 91探花.

This strategy is catching on elsewhere. ActID launched in Shenzhen in March 2026 and already has around 300 users who have agreed to license their likenesses, with roughly ten faces used in two AI drama productions so far. A competing platform, New Claw, operates out of Chengdu with a minimum price of 500 yuan, around $74, per image.

Fees range from $15 to $700 per arrangement depending on the face type, the permitted uses and the number of productions. China鈥檚 AI microdrama sector reached roughly 16.8 billion yuan in 2025, and more than 10,000 AI-generated microdramas have been released each month since early 2026. The market is large, it鈥檚 growing and it needs faces.

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The Reality Of The Licensing Terms

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Both services sell themselves as clear, legal alternatives to the rampant face swapping that has led to thousands of court disputes in China. The Guangzhou Internet Court alone has handled around 700 AI-related face-theft cases over the past three years. The platforms make a fair point, suggesting a licensed marketplace with clear terms improves on companies scraping public images without permission.

The real catch comes down to what those signed terms permit. Licensing contracts on these platforms have been reported as vague about duration, modification, reuse and who may ultimately access the likeness. Once facial data enters an AI system, controlling how that likeness is altered, reused or portrayed in the future becomes trickier. As one Beijing lawyer put it, people may lose long-term control of their biometric identity once their images enter these systems. ActID monitors the internet for unauthorised use and connects users with lawyers if needed. It can鈥檛 guarantee licensed photos won鈥檛 be collected illegally, used in unauthorised face swaps or included in future AI training data.

Saying yes to a contract is simple enough. Maintaining any real power over your digital face is where things fall apart. Signing an agreement satisfies the lawyers today, leaving you with little power over what comes next.

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Digital Labour Or Digital Exploitation?

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The core issue boils down to whether this counts as legitimate digital work or a new level of exploitation. Advocates for this setup claim that it鈥檚 simply superior to the present state of affairs: people are getting paid for something that was previously taken from them for free. Traditional drama production budgets are shrinking, luxury brands are shifting to AI-generated content, and the demand for human likenesses is there regardless of whether the marketplace exists. Better to have an organised system with pricing and legal agreements than a Wild West of unauthorised scraping.

On the other hand, sceptics draw attention to the uneven dynamic at play. The people selling tend to be non-specialists with limited legal literacy, signing contracts written by platforms with significant informational advantages. The people buying are producers and technology companies with legal teams. The pricing, particularly at the $15 end, reflects less a fair market rate for a biometric asset and more the desperation of people who don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e giving away.

One retired person鈥檚 face appearing in an AI thriller at $15 an episode is a transaction. That same face appearing in an AI advertising campaign for a brand they find objectionable, under a clause they didn鈥檛 notice, is something else.

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Will This Model Travel West?

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From 2 August 2026, the EU AI Act will require companies to explicitly inform people whenever they are looking at realistic AI-generated clones or manipulated media. And the UK introduced a new offence in February 2026 criminalising the creation of non-consensual sexual or intimate images of adults, covering AI-generated deepfakes. Broader online safety reforms are being fast-tracked.

A Western equivalent of the ActID model would face substantially stricter legal scrutiny. Vague licensing terms that might pass in China鈥檚 current enforcement environment would face direct challenge under EU data protection law, GDPR鈥檚 biometric data provisions and the AI Act鈥檚 transparency requirements. The model, a marketplace where people monetise their likeness for AI production, isn鈥檛 inherently unlawful in Europe. The vague contracts and the loss-of-control problem very likely would be.

What the Chinese platforms have created is a preview of a market that will arrive in some form elsewhere. The demand for licensed human likenesses in AI content production is real and growing. The debate is whether Western legal policies will force that market to operate with the consent and transparency protections that the current Chinese version lacks. That鈥檚 a more interesting question than whether you鈥檇 rent your face for $15. The answer to that one is probably: not once you鈥檝e read the contract.

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The incident began when an OpenAI model reached the internet during a test designed to assess its hacking ability. The model then accessed Hugging Face while searching for answers to ExploitGym, a cybersecurity benchmark. OpenAI later said the model had also accessed other publicly available services during the same evaluation.

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What Did OpenAI Find Over And Above Hugging Face?

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After the incident, OpenAI updated its account of what happened, saying, 鈥淭he models identified and used publicly exposed credentials at the account-level on other publicly-available services. This includes four accounts on four services.鈥�

The company did not name those services or explain exactly what information the models accessed through the accounts. OpenAI also said these incidents did not reach the same level of severity as the Hugging Face intrusion.

The discovery is worth noting, because the models were able to identify credentials that had been exposed online and use them during their search for information. The activity happened during an evaluation in which the models had been given a narrow cybersecurity task and their usual restrictions had been deliberately switched off.

Nik Kairinos, CEO and Co-founder of RAIDS AI, said the latest discoveries say a lot about how organisations currently supervise AI agents. He said, 鈥淭he latest details of OpenAI鈥檚 rogue ChapGPT agents make this incident even more serious than it first appeared and it should be a defining moment for AI safety. If one of the world鈥檚 leading AI companies can lose control of an advanced model in this way, every organisation deploying AI agents should be asking whether its current safeguards are genuinely fit for purpose.

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鈥淧re-release testing and sandboxing are essential, but AI systems can adapt, escalate and behave in ways their developers did not anticipate. Safety cannot be treated as a one-off exercise before deployment; it has to be continuous. This is why businesses need real-time monitoring that can identify when an AI system is drifting from expected behaviour, accessing systems it should not, pursuing unintended routes to complete a task, or creating new security risks.

鈥淭he lesson from this is that progress without ongoing oversight is a dangerous gamble. Trust in AI will depend on whether companies can show that their systems are safe not only in a test environment but throughout their entire lifecycle.鈥�

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Was The Incident A Sign Of AI Going Rogue?

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Carole Reeves, director of security operations at digital transformation company ANS, said, 鈥淲hile the headlines understandably focus on an AI agent compromising external systems, it鈥檚 important to recognise this occurred during an internal security evaluation designed to better understand the capabilities and risks of advanced AI models. OpenAI鈥檚 transparency in sharing the findings gives the wider industry an opportunity to learn and strengthen future safeguards.

鈥淩ather than taking this as a signal to fear AI, organisations need to ensure that security, governance and rigorous testing evolve alongside the technology. Strong incident response remains essential, but it is no longer enough on its own. Businesses also need a mature security posture, continuous exposure management and security by design to reduce risk before incidents occur.

鈥淪ecure and responsible adoption will be the defining factor of the AI race, and success will depend on how rigorously it is maintained.鈥�

The incident therefore came from a controlled evaluation in which OpenAI intentionally removed restrictions that would normally limit risky cyber activity. The models then found weaknesses and online credentials that helped them complete the task they had been given.

OpenAI has reported the previously unknown software flaw to the vendor responsible for the affected software and said it is improving security around future AI evaluations.

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91探花 is excited to announce the winners of the 2026 HealthTech44 campaign, celebrating the most exciting and innovative businesses in health and medical technology this year.

Founded in 2016, 91探花 is the UK鈥檚 best-known and fastest-growing startup and tech news site. This听is where decision-makers, investors and startups of all sizes and nature come to find out the latest developments and trends within the industry.

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See The List

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Top 44 鈥� See Here >>

Top 40 鈥� See Here >>

Top 30 鈥� See Here >>

Top 20 鈥� See Here >>

Top 10 鈥撎�See Here >>

Who Ranked Number 1? 鈥撎�See Here听>>

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Feedback From The Judges

One of the most encouraging aspects of judging this year鈥檚 HealthTech44 competition was seeing how many founders were thinking beyond the technology itself. The strongest entries combined innovative technology with a clear understanding of the clinical problem they were solving and a credible pathway to bringing that solution into practice. That combination of innovation, evidence and a clear route to adoption made this an exceptionally strong field and was a reminder of just how much high-quality innovation is taking place across the sector. Congratulations to everyone who took part, and particularly to this year鈥檚 winners.

Head Judge 2026

Dr. Stuart Grant, Founder of

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Judging this field reinforced how quickly healthtech is moving from point solutions toward trusted clinical infrastructure. The strongest entries did more than present an interesting idea: they addressed a meaningful care or workflow problem, showed evidence of execution, and designed around the realities of clinicians, patients, regulation, and deployment. I was particularly drawn to companies combining clinical usefulness with measurable traction, explainable AI, strong data foundations, or devices capable of improving access outside traditional care settings.

I deliberately did not rank companies based only on size, valuation, or fundraising. Several early-stage teams scored well because the problem was urgent, the founder insight was authentic, and the pathway to validation was credible. The main gap across weaker entries was not ambition, but proof鈥攃lear outcomes, regulatory strategy, differentiation, and evidence that the solution can work consistently in real healthcare environments.

Jeremy Lawson, Founder and CEO of Salynt Inc.

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As an independent virtual CISO with a background in risk management, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance, I prefer facts over marketing claims. For 91探花鈥檚 HealthTech44 2026, I ranked the submissions on five evidence-based dimensions: stated security maturity, AI claim substantiation, clinical validity, patient impact, and the team鈥檚 credibility. Companies that scored higher had provided named certifications, published benchmarks, regulatory clearance, quantified outcomes, and experienced clinical leaders named in their submission. By comparison, entries with visible AI instructions, placeholder content, or contradictory claims were disqualified, and submissions that were primarily unsubstantiated product marketing ranked poorly with me.

Kayne McGladrey, Independent Virtual CISO

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The list of startups are amongst the top health tech companies in the world tackling the most challenging health problems with their impact able to improve healthcare outcomes around the world. With the current theme of AI helping to deliver great outcomes, I am glad to see many healthtech companies utilising and being AI-first.

Samuel Okwuada, Founder and CEO of Remedial Health

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Judging this year鈥檚 HealthTech competition was an inspiring experience. The quality of the submissions reflected the incredible innovation happening across the healthcare sector, with companies tackling real-world challenges through technology. From advancements in remote patient monitoring to AI-driven diagnostics and neurological care, these solutions demonstrated both technical excellence and a clear understanding of the needs of patients and healthcare professionals. What stood out most was the focus on creating accessible, scalable technologies with the potential to make a meaningful impact. It was encouraging to see such a high standard of innovation, and I look forward to seeing how these companies continue to shape the future of healthcare.听

Laliq Schuman, Reporter and SEO Executive at 91探花听

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Thank You To Our Judges

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Head Judge 2026

Dr. Stuart Grant, Founder of

Dr. Stuart Grant is the Founder of Archetype MedTech, where he provides product development leadership to founders, investors, and MedTech companies, bringing innovative medical technologies to market.

Alongside Archetype, Stuart is Co-Founder of C-True Surgical, Product Development Leadership Advisor to the Science and Engineering Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA) and a Product Development Mentor with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme. His work spans the UK, Europe, the US and APAC, including Australia, China, and India.

Before founding Archetype, Stuart spent 25 years with Johnson & Johnson MedTech, where he established and led the company鈥檚 Shanghai R&D Centre of Excellence. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, holds a PhD in Medical Device Technology and Innovation, is a named inventor on multiple US medical device patents and is a regular speaker, mentor and contributor across the global MedTech sector.

Read more about Dr. Stuart Grant and what he鈥檚 looking out for in HealthTech44 entrants here.

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Aline G贸mez-Acebo Finat, CEO at ENIAX

Aline Gomez-Acebo Finat is a prominent tech operator, angel investor, and ecosystem builder specializing in deep tech, digital health, and venture capital. As the CEO of ENIAX, she scales a healthtech platform utilizing machine learning and natural language processing to manage data for nearly 100 million patients across 8 countries.

Committed to bridging the venture funding gap, she is also the Co-Founder of Calafia Iberia, the region鈥檚 first women-led angel investment syndicate. An Adjunct Professor at IE Business School with executive credentials from MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, Aline has received numerous awards like Top 100 Female Leader and EPIC award for her sustainability efforts in business.

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Jeremy Lawson, Founder and CEO of Salynt Inc.

Jeremy Lawson is the Founder and CEO of Salynt Inc., a healthcare AI company developing advanced neuroimaging and clinical decision-support technologies that help clinicians better understand and treat complex neurological conditions. With over a decade of experience in artificial intelligence, data science, and technology innovation across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community, he understands the intersection of healthcare, technology, and commercialization. Jeremy holds a Master鈥檚 in Data Science from The George Washington University and a Bachelor鈥檚 in Mathematics from Jackson State University.

Beyond his professional work, Jeremy is committed to mentorship, education, and community impact. He is a member of The National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences and previously served as President of the Maryland Black Caucus Foundation and Vice President of the International Black Firefighters Museum. He is passionate about empowering the next generation of innovators while advancing technologies that improve patient outcomes and clinical decision-making.

Jeremy enjoys cooking, playing the piano, traveling, and watching football in his spare time.

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Kayne McGladrey, Independent Virtual CISO

Kayne McGladrey is an independent virtual CISO who helps SMBs and mid-market firms navigate compliance, AI regulation and cyber risk. Author of the upcoming book 鈥淐yber Risk is a Myth,鈥� and ranked number one globally for his cybersecurity and risk management expertise, Kayne bridges technical security with business outcomes.

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Oren Hershkovitz, Chief Executive Officer and Enlivex

Oren Hershkovitz is the CEO at Enlivex (Nasdaq: ENLV), a quality longevity company advancing Allocetra, a clinical-stage immunotherapy targeting age-related osteoarthritis, alongside a prediction markets treasury strategy built around the RAIN protocol.

In 2025 the company reported $1.23 billion in net profit and received FDA clearance for a Phase 2b clinical trial in the same week. Oren is a pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of experience leading clinical programs from early discovery through Phase III trials and has overseen more than $200 million in financing throughout his career. He holds a PhD in Immunology with distinction from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Prior to joining Enlivex in 2019, Oren served as General Manager of OPKO Biologics, where he led the late-stage clinical development of Ngenla, a long-acting growth hormone co-developed with Pfizer that is now approved in more than 40 countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan.

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Samuel Okwuada, Founder and CEO of Remedial Health

Samuel Okwuada is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Remedial Health, a healthcare technology company focused on optimizing the pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa. Educated as a pharmacist with a Master鈥檚 degree in Pharmacy from the University of East Anglia, UK; he is also a self-taught software engineer who initially began writing code at age 14.

During his university studies, Okwuada established a track record as a serial entrepreneur by founding 3 distinct startup companies and successfully completing 2 corporate exits. Through his leadership at Remedial Health, he builds direct-to-retail distribution networks for medical and non-medical consumables to improve inventory affordability for independent pharmacies across the African continent. His platform directly addresses regional supply shortages and pricing inefficiencies within the traditional medical distribution model.

Okwuada remains focused on leveraging his dual expertise in software engineering and clinical pharmacy to modernize medicine access and healthcare logistics.

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Laliq Schuman, Reporter and SEO Executive at 91探花

Laliq is an SEO Executive with experience writing optimised content for a wide range of clients. She specialises in creating SEO-driven blogs and on-site content that aligns with both search intent and brand voice. With a client base spanning multiple industries, Laliq brings a broad knowledge of tech and consumer-focused topics to her work. Her exposure to innovation-driven sectors has sparked a particular interest in how technology can support and improve healthcare.

The post Announced! 91探花’s HealthTech44 Winners 2026… appeared first on 91探花.

Co-Founder & CEO: Vasili Razhnou

Website:听

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About MEDvidi

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MEDvidi emerged from traditional offline clinics in San Francisco and Miami in 2019, transitioning to a custom telehealth platform in 2020. Co-founders Vasili Razhnou and Alex Kulitski combined healthcare operations and technology expertise to build a platform that connects patients with licensed therapists and prescribing clinicians in one coordinated care model 鈥� making high-quality, affordable mental health care accessible across the US for ADHD, anxiety, and depression.

The biggest problem in healthcare today is provider capacity. Millions of Americans cannot access mental health care. The reason is that psychiatrists are fully booked with routine follow-up visits and administrative tasks, leaving no capacity for new patients. MEDvidi built its AI directly around that bottleneck. The AI Chart Generator transcribes visits in real time, updating documentation every 60 seconds and cutting charting time by 10x.

The AI Chart Reviewer monitors 100 percent of clinical encounters for protocol adherence, reducing review time by 80 percent while handling ID verification, drug-seeking detection, and guideline compliance. An AI Receptionist manages rescheduling, gathers prescription-related updates from patients, and feeds everything back into clinical workflows. By removing that friction, MEDvidi enables clinicians to see up to 10 times more patients.

Unlike other AI health tools trained on non-specific medical data, MEDvidi AI is trained on 130,000 real psychiatric visits. It is purpose-built for psychiatric workflows, regulations, and controlled-substance requirements. It works as a clinical verification layer, grounded in evidence-based guidelines and a proprietary dataset of real historical visits, ensuring every prescription aligns with standards and providing regulators with transparent oversight. The AI does not make independent decisions. The view at MEDvidi is blunt: AI in medicine should solve bottlenecks in doctors鈥� workflows and make clinicians more capable, not replace them.

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Contact us today.

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Founder & CEO: Bilal Farooqi

Website:

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About Sunny Health AI

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Sunny Health AI is an AI-powered healthcare navigation platform that acts as a virtual healthcare concierge for employees and their families. The platform helps users understand their insurance benefits, locate in-network providers, book appointments, answer coverage questions, and coordinate follow-up care through conversational AI. Its primary customers are employers, particularly startups, looking to improve employee healthcare access while reducing HR workload and unnecessary healthcare spending.

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Contact us today.

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