"Companies spending heavily on AI are growing headcount faster, even in the entry-level roles that many fear are doomed," writes TechCrunch. That's the conclusion of new report tracking AI spending from Ramp's corporate card/bill pay data as well as Revelio Labs' workforce records from 21,599 U.S. firms: According to the report, "high-intensity adopters" — firms that spend on average $30 per employee per month on AI in the first three months — saw headcount increase 10.2%. Headcount also rose across functions, including engineering, sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing, and scientist roles. The strongest job growth among high-intensity adopters was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media, and tech-adjacent firms. Despite these positive signals, the data isn't as rosy as it seems. It skews heavily toward tech-forward, knowledge-work firms — ones that might have VC-backing and are growing fast anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to the hiring or just showing up at companies that are expanding anyway. "This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs," the paper's authors admit, "but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses." It also counters claims that AI is killing all junior jobs. Recent research from Goldman Sachs found that AI has already erased about 16,000 net jobs per month over the past year, with Gen Z and entry-level workers taking the brunt of the burden. But in tech-forward firms, the report finds that entry-level headcount actually rose by 12%... "For software and technology firms, AI can make core output cheaper or faster to produce: writing code, debugging, building internal tools, producing technical documentation, and supporting product development," the report reads. "Lower production costs in these workflows can raise the return to expanding the whole firm, not just the engineering team." But companies that buy subscriptions and run pilots, yet did not go on to make sustained investments, don't tend to see any gains in headcount, per the report. That sets up the potential for a widening gap between firms that have the resources — like capital, technical staff, founder networks, and management bandwidth — to turn AI adoption into actual business gains and those that are stuck experimenting with subscriptions. In other words, this report suggests that firms that already have the resources are the ones that will see the largest gains. CNBC argues another AI "narrative" was challenged this week: that open source can't make money. "The assumption was that giving your model away for free meant no business. That's breaking too, as open-model companies start posting real revenue and enterprises move from renting AI to running their own."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion in a new group "assisting clients with AI implementations," reports CNBC: [Microsoft] said Thursday that 6,000 employees will be embedded with clients, in a practice that's become known as forward deployed engineering [or FDE]... The announcement comes two days after cloud rival Amazon said it was putting $1 billion behind an FDE initiative to support fast-paced AI engagements. Leading AI labs Anthropic and OpenAI both established FDE groups in May, partnering with private equity firms, banks and consulting firms. Alongside its technology peers, Microsoft has sunk tens of billions of dollars into building data centers that run generative AI models. Microsoft has also released a variety of AI services, with mixed results. The Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant has yet to gain anything approaching ubiquity in the business world, and the GitHub Copilot coding agent has ceded market share to newer players. Microsoft's stock has slumped 21% this year, by far the worst performance among the mega-cap tech companies. One concern on Wall Street is that AI models that quickly compose code might threaten mature software companies... Microsoft has for years provided support and implementation services to customers. The company generated about $2.1 billion in revenue from enterprise and partner services in the March quarter, up 2.5% from a year earlier.

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Have you ever needed a Linux application which only exists in the Windows world? Long-time Slashdot reader BrendaEM writes: Windows does have a lot of useful app (but smaller than "power apps"). Some of these are closed source, some are open, but they're not all available in Linux yet. My list would have to contain Gimp Tookit versions of: IrfanView image manager, which I think is unequaled in Linux (though it does work to some extent under Wine). I also miss the full version of 7-Zip, because of its better compression settings, which File-Roller does not provide, though the Linux port p7zip is available (though unnoticed by common distributions). Lastly, I think that Notepad++ would be a good addition to Linux. That last one drew some pushback from long-time Slashdot reader jesco. "If there's one area where Linux shines, then it's the availability of high-quality text editors. Last time I looked Kate was still pretty nice, and there's Emacs, Vim and Neovim" if you're partial to command lines. But are there any daily-drive apps you still find yourself needing? Share your own thoughts in the comments. Which apps aren't available on Linux?

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America's Justice Department and FBI teamed joined Finland's National Bureau of Investigation to arrest a teenager they say is part of one of the world's biggest cybercrime syndicates, reports Tom's Hardware. The "Scattered Spider" syndicate has extorted over $100 million in ransom payments, according to Department of Justice figures: 19-year-old Peter Stokes is a dual U.S.-Estonian citizen who was trying to board a flight to Japan from Helsinki, when law enforcement caught up with him. [T]he main criminal complaint against Stokes stems from a May 2025 attack on a luxury jewelry dealer based in the United States. The attackers apparently called the company's IT helpdesk using Google Voice, posing as employees. They were able to convince the help desk into resetting their credentials, which allowed them to infiltrate three accounts, two of which had admin privileges. From there, the group, allegedly including Stokes, stole important data and held the jeweler at ransom, demanding an $8 million payment in crypto. The company ultimately regained access to their infrastructure and avoided paying the ransom, but the operational disruption still caused a purported $2 million in losses. This served as the spark that led to Stokes' eventual arrest in Helsinki, as the prosecutors slowly followed the paper and digital trail laid by the attackers. Microsoft played a key role in the process by providing GDID [Global Device Identifier] data to the FBI to help them apprehend the alleged criminal... [I]t's a unique identifier assigned to every Windows install that tracks device-specific telemetry. It's the reason why sometimes changing a major component in your PC can revoke your Windows license... [T]he court documents from the case reveal that Stokes used Windows, from which investigators were able to link his physical hardware to specific internet activity and locations... Stokes' web activity, videogame history, IP addresses, tool usage (including Ngrok), Azure status, and more were logged with timestamps, and were provided to the investigators by Microsoft... Stokes was carrying two hard drives full of incriminating evidence with him when boarding his flight to Japan... His real identity has actually been known since 2024, but since he was a minor living across Estonia and the UAE at the time, he could only be monitored until the time was right. The official criminal complaint even includes a selfie photo that Stokes posted on Snapchat (hiding his face behind dozens of hundred dollar bills). It then notes that behind Stokes the wallpaper, carpet, and furniture match New York's Empire Hotel — and that Stokes had visited the hotel's web site in Germany before then flying to New York... "Following the arrest, Stokes was extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in front of a federal court in Chicago for the first time on June 30, 2026, and he remains in custody," adds Tom's Hardware. "The accused is now awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, bienvenue dans La Semaine Automobile par LeBlogAuto.com. Je suis David, et on se retrouve pour une semaine Alpine, presque entièrement : fin d’une ère à Dieppe, mulet électrique à Goodwood. On parle aussi de Dacia, de E.Leclerc et d’une Aston Martin qui a pris un bain involontaire. C’est parti.

HOMMAGE — L’Alpine A110 mk2 tire sa révérence après 28 701 exemplaires

28 701. C’est le nombre d’Alpine A110 de deuxième génération produites à Dieppe. C’est terminé. L’usine normande bascule désormais vers le 100 % électrique. Pour replacer ce chiffre : la première génération, celle du mythe, n’avait été assemblée qu’à 6 749 unités. La mk2 a donc multiplié par quatre la base de fans. Belle réussite, sur un créneau hyper exigeant, avec des moyens limités. L’ADN Alpine — légèreté, agilité, prix relatif — a fonctionné. On verra si l’électrique peut faire pareil.

NOUVEAUTÉ — Alpine A110 FUTURE : le mulet électrique se dévoile à Goodwood

Et dans la foulée, Alpine montre la suite. Le mulet de développement de la future A110 électrique fera ses apparitions publiques au Goodwood Festival of Speed. Sous la carrosserie actuelle, tout le technique est censé y être : nouvelle plateforme APP, batterie cell-to-pack en 800 volts, deux moteurs électriques en propulsion avec répartition des masses 40/60. Alpine promet de surpasser les meilleures sportives thermiques actuelles. C’est ambitieux. Les rumeurs parlent de plus de 400 chevaux, et d’un lancement fin 2026 ou début 2027. Gasly et Colapinto seront là pour faire le show. On attend de voir ça rouler vraiment.

SPORT AUTO — F1 Silverstone : Antonelli s’impose au sprint, Hamilton en pole

La F1 est à Silverstone pour le Grand Prix de Grande-Bretagne. Le sprint du vendredi a vu Kimi Antonelli s’imposer devant Hamilton et Norris. Le jeune pilote Ferrari confirme son talent au fil des courses. En qualifications sprint, c’est Hamilton qui a dominé Antonelli. La semaine dernière en Autriche, rappelons-le, Russell avait décroché la victoire sur la grille de départ contestée par Ferrari. La saison est ouverte, chaque week-end est une surprise.

ÉCONOMIE — Dacia Sandero full hybrid sous les 20 000 euros : une bombe tarifaire

Dacia frappe fort. La Sandero passe en full hybrid et reste sous la barre des 20 000 euros. C’est une rivale directe pour la Renault Clio E-Tech — qui appartient pourtant au même groupe. Le positionnement est agressif, le message au marché est clair : on peut avoir de l’hybride abordable sans compromis sur le prix. La Sandero est déjà la voiture la plus vendue en Europe depuis deux ans. Avec ce moteur, elle va encore gratter des parts de marché.

MOBILITÉ — E. Leclerc lance la guerre des prix sur la recharge électrique

E.Leclerc entre en guerre sur la recharge électrique. L’enseigne casse les prix sur ses bornes en grande surface, et le consommateur a tout à y gagner. C’est une bonne nouvelle pour la démocratisation du VE : plus les prix de la recharge convergent vers le bas, plus l’argument économique du passage à l’électrique devient imparable. La bataille des bornes ne fait que commencer.

SÉCURITÉ — JLR rappelle 250 000 SUV aux États-Unis pour un défaut d’airbag

Jaguar Land Rover rappelle 250 857 véhicules aux États-Unis. En cause : un défaut sur l’airbag conducteur lié à la corrosion d’un connecteur. À ce volume, on parle d’un rappel massif. Ce type d’opération coûte cher, dépasse souvent les 100 millions de dollars, et alimente les inquiétudes autour de la fiabilité des modèles de la marque. Un mauvais timing pour JLR, qui cherche à repositionner ses gammes vers le haut de gamme.

INSOLITE — James Pond : l’Aston Martin Vantage qui voulait traverser une flaque

Pour finir, un moment de légèreté pure. Un conducteur britannique a engagé sa toute nouvelle Aston Martin Vantage dans une route inondée. Le V8 biturbo a calé au milieu du gué. La vidéo a fait le tour des réseaux sociaux. Et Internet, dans sa grande sagesse, l’a surnommé « James Pond ». On ne pouvait pas mieux trouver.

C’est tout pour cette semaine. Merci de nous écouter. Retrouvez tous les articles évoqués aujourd’hui sur LeBlogAuto.com, et si le podcast vous plaît, partagez-le — c’est le meilleur coup de pouce que vous puissiez nous donner. À la semaine prochaine !

L’article LA SEMAINE AUTOMOBILE – Épisode 388 Semaine du 4 juillet 2026 est apparu en premier sur Le Blog Auto.