PayPal has announced new features that make cryptocurrency more accessible and usable in everyday commerce, aiming to eliminate common barriers and drive broader adoption among consumers and merchants alike. With these enhancements, users can now buy, sell, hold, send, and spend cryptocurrencies through the PayPal platform, integrating digital currencies into routine purchases. The company emphasizes…
Retailers are increasingly turning to AI agents to stay competitive in a fast-evolving marketplace, according to Salesforce’s sixth Connected Shoppers Report. The report reveals that 75% of retail decision-makers believe AI agents will be essential to beat the competition within the next year. Salesforce’s findings are based on dual surveys of 8,350 shoppers and 1,700…
Small business owners know that their success doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes years of hard work, dedication, and the know-how to make it prosper. Growing a business takes a strategic approach. In an ideal world, business owners would throw money at every possible idea and see what sticks. But the reality is they…
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on Friday announced an agency-wide reorganization that includes a 43% reduction in its workforce as part of a broader effort to return to its original mission of supporting small businesses and increasing agency accountability to taxpayers. The restructuring, authorized under Executive Order 14210, is intended to reverse what the…
This week, our Small Biz Breakdown crew is flying without a net, per se. There’s no agenda – not as if they’re always following the one they sometimes have – and the conversation could go anywhere. Like most weeks, however, the discussion always seems to focus on the latest in AI. And this week is…
Meta announced it will begin testing its new Community Notes feature across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in the United States starting March 18. This marks the beginning of Meta’s transition away from its third-party fact-checking program, which the company revealed in January it would discontinue in favor of a crowd-sourced model. Community Notes is designed…
Zoom has announced a significant expansion of its AI Companion platform, introducing new agentic AI skills and custom agent capabilities that span across Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Docs, and Zoom Contact Center. The announcement, made March 17 during a company event in Orlando, highlights more than 45 innovations aimed at boosting…
Walmart has unveiled Wally, a generative AI-powered assistant developed to enhance the productivity of its merchants by automating key merchandising tasks. The company announced the tool on March 18, describing it as a “productivity multiplier” designed to streamline data analysis, operational support, and reporting processes for Walmart’s sourcing teams. According to the company, Wally was…
Optimum Business and the LIA Foundation have announced the relaunch of the L.O.C.A.L. (Lifting Our Community Businesses Across Long Island) Small Business Grants, aimed at supporting small businesses across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Now in its second year, the program will award $5,000 grants to 40 selected small businesses, along with two grand prize grants…
ResponseForce1, a Florida-based IT services firm with experience in disaster response and cybersecurity, has announced the launch of a new suite of compliance and security services designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The new Managed Services solution, branded RF1-TS, is set to go live on April 15, 2025. According to the company, the…
