By Al Barbarino ( February 27, 2025, 1:38 PM EST) — IBM said Thursday that it had completed its $6.4 billion acquisition of infrastructure automation company HashiCorp, just two days after U.K. regulators disclosed that the deal had their green light…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Over the past year, a series of indictments and threat intelligence reports uncovered a sophisticated program to place North Korea-affiliated operatives into remote IT jobs around the world. In January, the U.S. Justice Department indicted five men for operating one such scheme that profited nearly $900,000. North Korean operatives, using deepfakes, laptop farms, and stolen identities to pose as U.S.-based job candidates, have been hired at numerous Fortune 500 companies, creating enormous insider risk and compliance threats while generating hundreds of millions of dollars to fund North Korea’s weapons programs. From an IT perspective, initial credentialing (also known as credential delivery or account provisioning) is a company’s last chance to stop these and other threat actors from getting in the door. Once a new employee or contractor sets their password, they are inside the castle, and removing them becomes extremely difficult. Onboarding just one threat actor can make a company liable to sanctions violations, stolen data and secrets, a system-encrypting ransomware attack, and a badly damaged public reputation – all of which can be disastrous for the organization’s market cap. Monetary costs: cutting corners raises security risk The financial cost of onboarding is quantifiable: According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the cost of hiring just one person averages $4,700. Onboarding and training alone run between $1,000 to $1,420 per employee. There is also the risk of refused access for legitimate employees. If the company can’t verify a new hire, they may have to start the hiring process all over again. While this cost cannot compare to the amount an organization stands to lose in a ransomware attack, it adds up quickly for fast-growing companies onboarding hundreds or thousands of employees and contractors per year. source

By Jared Foretek ( March 3, 2025, 6:56 PM EST) — The U.S. Department of Justice is telling a D.C. federal judge to keep Anthropic PBC out of the remedies phase of its search antitrust case against Google, arguing that the artificial intelligence company is trying to backdoor its way to intervenor privileges through an amicus curiae request…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Business money market accounts (MMAs) are generally low-risk and tend to offer higher interest rates than regular savings accounts. They also provide convenience through features like check-writing and debit cards. These accounts are ideal for short-term financial goals, as they can assist small businesses in establishing an emergency fund for unexpected expenses or saving for significant purchases, such as equipment and machinery. The best business money market accounts typically offer high interest rates, low initial deposits, minimal balance requirements, and high transaction limits. Here is a list of the seven best business money market accounts. Best overall bank for business money market account: U.S. Bank Member FDIC Best digital bank for MMA with tiered APY: Prime Alliance Member FDIC Best bank for money market accounts with no opening deposit: NBKC Bank Member FDIC Best high-yield MMA bundled with business checking: Grasshopper Member FDIC Best full-service bank with high business money market rates: Truist Member FDIC Best high-yield money market and loan offerings: TAB Bank Member FDIC Best MMA with ATM surcharge rebates: First Internet Bank Member FDIC Best business money market accounts quick comparison The table below reflects the top factors I evaluated for the seven best business money market accounts. Image: U.S. Bank Our rating: 4.74 out of 5 U.S. Bank offers three types of business money market accounts, each with a minimum deposit requirement of $100. You can easily apply for the Platinum Business Money Market account online. However, to open a Preferred Business Money Market or a Premium Business Money Market account, you must schedule an appointment. One key feature that distinguishes the Platinum Business Money Market account is the additional bonus APY of 3.56% The rate is subject to change at any time without notice.  which you can earn by opening a new account and maintaining a daily balance of $25,000 after your initial deposit of $25,000. Why I chose it U.S. Bank is my best overall choice for a business money market account because it offers a high bonus APY when you meet the qualifying criteria. Additionally, you can link it to your checking account for seamless fund transfers. The bank’s Silver Business Checking account is fee-free and easy to open online. You also receive a substantial welcome bonus once you fulfill specific conditions. These factors are why it ranks highly in our guide to the best small business checking accounts. Monthly fees Platinum Business Money Market account: $15, waived with a $10,000 minimum daily balance. Preferred Business Money Market account: $10, waived with a $1,000 minimum daily balance. Premium Business Money Market account: Varies by market. Features The first 25 deposit transactions are free. Three business money market options. Waivable monthly maintenance fees. Daily interest is accrued. Interest is paid monthly. Pros and cons Pros Cons High bonus APY rate. Multiple money market accounts. More interest earnings with higher balances. Steep balance requirement to waive the Platinum Business MMA monthly fee. High balance is required to earn a bonus rate. Image: NBKC Our rating: 4.10 out of 5 NBKC Bank offers a money market account with an APY of 2.75% on all balances. There is no opening deposit required, and to earn interest, you only need to maintain a minimum account balance of just 1 cent. This account structure ensures that you can earn interest on any balance, reducing the pressure to keep high amounts in the account. You can start earning interest without the need to maintain a high balance. Why I chose it Few providers allow you to open a money market account without an initial deposit, which makes NBKC’s Business Money Market account stand out. I appreciate that this feature simplifies the process of starting a savings account while offering a higher yield than traditional savings products. Additionally, NBKC is known for its zero-cost business checking account, allowing you to easily open one alongside your money market account. This way, you can transfer funds seamlessly from your savings to your checking account when you need to make additional payments. Monthly fees NBKC Business Money Market: None. Features A solid APY rate is applied to all balances. No account opening deposit. 1 cent minimum account balance required to earn interest. Four branches located in Kansas and Missouri. Pros and cons Pros Cons Uniform APY rate. No initial deposit requirement. Kansas and Missouri-based users can access in-person banking. Limited branches. Lower APY rate than other providers. Grasshopper: Best high-yield MMA bundled with business checking Image: Grasshopper Our rating: 4.04 out of 5 Grasshopper is a digital bank that offers two types of money market accounts: the Innovator Money Market Savings and the Accelerator Money Market Savings. Both require a minimum deposit of $100. The APY rates are tiered, starting at balances of $25,000 for the Innovator account and $50,000 for the Accelerator account. The Innovator products are designed for small and mid-sized enterprises, while the Accelerator products cater to startups and venture capital firms. Why I chose it I chose to include Grasshopper’s money market accounts because they are an excellent addition to this list. Bundling a money market account with your business checking account boosts your APY earnings to 3.30% (Innovator) or 3.55% (Accelerator). Having both products benefits users because they can earn solid interest while keeping their funds accessible for everyday transactions. In our roundup of the best free business checking accounts, Grasshopper stands out for its interest-earning checking accounts, which is rare among business checking products. Additionally, users can earn unlimited cash back rewards when using their debit cards. Monthly fees Grasshopper Innovator Money Market Account: None. Grasshopper Accelerator Money Market Account: None. Features Online account opening. $100 initial deposit. Maintaining balances required to earn APY. A checking account is required to open an MMA. Pros and cons Pros Cons No monthly fee. High APY rates. No transaction fees. No physical locations. $100 opening deposit. No cash deposit option. Truist: Best full-service bank with high business money market rates Image: Truist Our rating: 3.94 out of 5 The Truist

In addition to asking workers how they feel about and use AI in the workplace generally, we asked a series of questions specifically about workplace use of AI chatbots – such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. A majority of workers (55%) rarely or never use AI chatbots at work. An additional 29% haven’t heard of this at all. Relatively small shares of workers say they have used AI chatbots for work: 9% say they use them every day or a few times a week, and 7% say they use them a few times a month. The groups who are more likely to have heard of AI chatbots are also more likely to use these tools: Workers ages 18 to 29 (23% say they use them at least a few times a month) Workers with a postgraduate degree (26%) How workers are using AI chatbots in their jobs The most common uses for AI chatbots among workers who’ve used them at work include: Doing research or finding information about a specific topic (57% of workers who have used AI chatbots at work say they’ve done this) Editing written content (52%) Drafting reports, documents, or other written content (47%) Four-in-ten or fewer say they’ve used AI chatbots at work to: Summarize information from documents or meetings (40%) Come up with new ideas, such as new projects or creative solutions (35%) Help with analyzing data or writing computer code (27%) Create or edit images or videos (21%) Workers ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to say they have used AI chatbots for almost all the work tasks we asked about. For example, among workers who have used AI chatbots at work, half of those ages 18 to 49 say they have used them to draft reports, documents or other written content, while only 38% of those ages 50 and older say they have done this. Similarly, 39% of workers 18 to 49 who have used AI chatbots say they have used them to come up with new ideas. This compares with 23% of those ages 50 and older. The only exception is on doing research or finding information about a specific topic. The shares of younger and older workers who say they have used AI chatbots to do this are not statistically different (58% and 53%). Among workers who have used AI chatbots for work, those with at least a bachelor’s degree are more likely than those with some college or less education to say they have used AI chatbots for some of the work tasks we asked about. There are significant differences by education when it comes to doing research or finding information about a specific topic; editing written content; drafting reports, documents or other written content; and coming up with new ideas. Do workers find AI chatbots helpful for their work? Among workers who have used AI chatbots for work, 40% say these tools have been extremely or very helpful in allowing them to do things more quickly. A smaller share (29%) say they have been highly helpful in improving the quality of their work. Views on this differ by age, education and how frequently workers use AI chatbots. Workers ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to find AI chatbots highly helpful in allowing them to do things more quickly (44% vs. 29%) and in improving the quality of their work (31% vs. 23%). Workers with at least a bachelor’s degree are also more likely than those with some college or less education to find AI chatbots highly helpful in allowing them to do things more quickly (44% vs. 34%). However, in terms of improving work quality, about the same shares of workers across education levels say AI chatbots have been highly helpful: 28% among those with some college or less education and 29% among those with at least a bachelor’s degree. Workers who use AI chatbots at least a few times a month are much more likely than workers who rarely use them to find these tools helpful. Among workers who use AI chatbots regularly, 54% say they’ve been highly helpful in speeding up their work and 41% say they’ve been highly helpful in improving their work quality. Smaller shares among workers who rarely use AI chatbots say the same (25% and 16%, respectively). Why some workers have not used AI chatbots for work Most workers (69%) do not use AI chatbots at work. This includes 40% who have never used them for work and 29% who have not heard about AI chatbot use in the workplace. Among workers who are not AI chatbot users, 36% say a major reason they have never used AI chatbots for work is that there isn’t any use for them in their job. About one-in-five (22%) say a major reason they haven’t used AI chatbots is because they’re not interested in using them. Smaller shares say they do not know how to use AI chatbots (10%) or their employer does not allow the use of AI chatbots (9%). Within this group of non-users, workers ages 50 and older are more likely than those ages 18 to 49 to say they haven’t used AI chatbots for work because they don’t know how to use them (13% vs. 8%). There aren’t significant differences by age for the rest of the items. Do employers encourage use of AI chatbots for work? Among all workers who are not self-employed, half say their employer neither encourages nor discourages the use of AI chatbots at work. Some 12% say their employer encourages it, and 8% say their employer discourages it. The shares of workers who say their employer encourages the use of AI chatbots for work are small across most industries, but the following stand out for sizable shares of workers saying their employer encourages it: Information and technology (36% say this) Banking, finance, accounting, real estate or insurance (24%) Professional, scientific and technical services

Growing up, most millennials got a little experience using Microsoft Office. Older generations got the same training from their employers. While we’ve all come to recognize Microsoft Office as essential in the modern workplace, you don’t really think about how expensive it is until it comes time to get it for your personal computer. Whether you’re starting a new business venture and need Microsoft Office’s help or you just want to get better organized in your personal life, it’s a good time to take advantage of this limited-time deal to get Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License for just $54.97 through March 30 and Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime Access for just $79.97. With this deal, you’ll get Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote for one computer for use at home or at work. That’s a complete bundle to basically handle all of your business and personal needs from word processing and data management to email, note taking and more. You’ll get a lifetime license to each product and be able to download and install them instantly as soon as you purchase. As soon as you’ve submitted payment, you’ll get a personal activation code via email and download instructions so you can start using Microsoft Office immediately. Right now, you can get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for just $54.97 each, which is 75% off the regular price of $219.99, or Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for just $79.97 each, which is 63% off the regular price of $219.99. Prices and availability are subject to change. source

At the end of 2023, Chicago-based Article Student Living was acquired by a global real estate investment company, which allowed the business to expand, and enabled it to make key investments in the high-demand student housing market. But because Article was growing so quickly, managing one of the largest student housing portfolios in the US, it needed to be more intentional about operational efficiency. “There are a lot of moving parts across our properties,” says Erica White, the company’s SVP of technology and strategic innovation. “Managing everything at our physical residences is crucial to ensure smooth resident experiences, and it’s equally important to guarantee efficiency within our internal operations.” Article’s technology strategy of creating integrated, scalable systems has been key to success. “In line with this, we understood that the more real-time insights and data we had available across our rapidly growing portfolio of properties, the more efficient we could be,” she adds. The goal was to bring everything together, which meant combining third-party solutions, like cloud-based cameras, with the brand’s centralized property reporting system to create an integrated environment capable of delivering actionable insights around property performance and resident satisfaction. “Article’s approach to innovation is built on three key pillars: user experience, employee experience and engagement, and increasing asset value,” she says. According to White, the decision to develop a centralized property reporting system stemmed from a need for a highly customized, efficient way to manage data across the portfolio. “Off-the-shelf solutions simply didn’t offer the level of flexibility and integration we required to make real-time, data-driven decisions,” she says. source

By Matthew Perlman ( February 28, 2025, 5:31 PM EST) — Louisiana regulators have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review Tesla’s case over the state’s ban on direct sales by automakers, saying the presence of car dealership owners on a regulatory board does not violate the electric-car company’s due process rights…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

By Julie Manganis ( February 28, 2025, 2:02 PM EST) — A former Adobe sales manager was sidelined and then fired after reporting a supervisor’s comments on his age to human resources, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source