Live alone, not in fear

🤯 Planet ChatGPT: According to researchers from OpenAI, Duke and Harvard, over 700 million people use ChatGPT monthly. That’s about one in 10 adults (paywall link) on Earth. Sam Altman just updated that to 800 million weekly users, firing off 2.5 billion messages a day. For context, that’s about 29,000 “write me a poem about my ex” requests every second.

🍥 Bun believable: What started as one woman selling her grandma’s cinnamon buns turned into Mav’s Top Buns, a New Jersey bakery that’s pulled in over $1 million and sold 500,000 buns in a year, all thanks to social media. No ads, no investors, just gooey carbs with a “bake it and post it” philosophy. This was a dangerous story to write at lunchtime.

📬 Copilot’s reading your Gmail: Microsoft’s Copilot can now peek into your Gmail, Drive and Calendar “to help you stay organized.” Translation: It’s reading your stuff so you don’t have to. Like a nosy neighbor offering to “recap” your mail, it might tidy things up, but you’re basically handing over a house key to your digital life.

💬 Office warfare: Google rolled out Gemini Enterprise, their Microsoft Copilot. For $21 to $30 a month, it connects with tools like Google Workspace, Salesforce and Microsoft 365, so your team can literally talk to your data. Think: instant answers from emails, docs or CRM info, no tab-hopping required. If you’re drowning in spreadsheets, this is worth a serious look. 

Surprise, you’re in the cloud: Starting now, if you open Word on Windows, it’ll autosave everything to OneDrive by default. No more “Save As,” it just uploads. Convenient for syncing across devices, maybe not great if you didn’t want your journal entries on Microsoft’s servers. Go to OneDrive > Settings > Sync and backup if you’re used to files living on your desktop. 

⚖️ “Your honor, as an LLM, I…”: If you’re having legal issues, regular folks are using ChatGPT to fight, and even win, lawsuits, from evictions to debt claims. One woman beat $55K in penalties after letting the bot guide her through appeals. Judges might not love it, but ChatGPT just passed its first bar: the search bar. 

Algorithmic landlords: The nation’s biggest landlord, Greystar, just settled a $141 million class action after tenants said RealPage’s rent software helped landlords sync prices and push rents higher. The companies deny wrongdoing but agreed to stop sharing secret data. Millions of renters could see a check, probably smaller than their next rent increase. Keep an eye out for a claims form if you’re eligible.

🧱 Microsoft tightens the leash: Microsoft’s killing every sneaky way to skip signing in with a Microsoft account during Windows 11 setup. The newest test blocks local account work-arounds, forcing you online whether you like it or not. Supposedly, it’s about “configuration.” They swear it’s “for your security,” which is classic villain lingo.