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Report finds business AI adoption is exploding, but most companies are skipping the hard work of preparationLeadership teams are failing to align on AI priorities, leaving strategies fractured and confusedAI is only as good as the data behind it, and most data strategies are missingThe surge in artificial intelligence adoption has sparked comparisons to the cloud boom of the past decade, but while usage is growing rapidly, understanding remains shallow, new research has claimed.A Hostinger report found almost 80% of companies now use or plan to use AI, but a seperate Adecco Group report claims only 10% of C-suite leaders believe their organizations are fully ready for the disruption AI brings.Among the estimated 359 million companies worldwide, about 280 million now integrate AI into at least one function.AI adoption accelerates, but strategy and structure lag behindA growing number of small businesses are turning to the best AI tools to handle tasks like writing emails, analyzing data, or generating content.Larger companies may build out full teams for implementation, but smaller firms are quietly transforming operations using lean, sometimes improvised, approaches.Still, readiness doesn’t follow adoption, and there is a worrying gap in strategy, as although 60% of leaders expect workers to update their skills, 34% of companies have no formal AI policy.Adecco found over half of CEOs admit their teams struggle to align on priorities, and only a third of businesses are investing in data infrastructure that would help close these gaps.However, a small group of “future-ready” companies is building more responsive strategies by supporting continuous learning and relying on enterprise-wide insight to shape their AI direction.Adecco’s CEO, Denis Machuel, puts it plainly: “AI-driven transformation must be human-centric.”Many companies rush into AI adoption without understanding what differentiates them, resulting in scattered or redundant projects.“Without enterprise-wide insight, AI efforts become siloed and misaligned. Enterprise Architecture can help focus AI initiatives on what truly sets a company apart,” Stendera explains.By mapping their unique strengths and workflows, organizations can guide AI deployments that reinforce strategic priorities rather than dilute them.AI depends not just on investment, but on introspection, and it is not a magic fix - and if companies do not understand what they need from AI, they won’t know how to use it, and the result will be catastrophic.You might also likeCheck out the best AI phones on the marketHere is our list of the best AI website builders on the webThis AI tool claims to boost student grades by 15% using a 2400-year-old technique

US government officials have condemned ICEBlock and CNN's recent coverage of it, leading to more people hearing about its existence and downloading it from the App Store. Now the application, which allows users to add a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, has climbed to the to the top of Apple's App Store charts. It's currently the number one free social networking app in the US and the third most downloaded free app overall.

Engadget

CNN's piece talked about how the app's developer, Joshua Aaron, launched it in early April after seeing the Trump administration crack down on immigration. When the piece went live, Aaron said the app had 20,000 users, many of whom live in Los Angeles, where ICE has been raiding neighborhoods. In addition to letting users pin ICE agent locations on a map, the app also gives them a way to add notes, such as what the agents are wearing or what car they're driving. Any user within a five mile radius of the sighting will get an alert.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that the CNN piece was "an incitement of further violence against... ICE officers" when asked to respond to the report on the podium. She said that there's been a 500 percent increase against ICE agents who are just "trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from... communities." ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons also issued a statement, saying that the app paints a target on federal law enforcement officers' backs. "CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade US law," he continued. "Is this simply reckless 'journalism' or overt activism?"

Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi both said the government is going after Aaron. "He's giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are," Bondi said. "...we are looking at it, we are looking at him, and he better watch out, because that's not a protected speech. That is threatening the lives of our law enforcement officers throughout this country."'

Aaron told CNN that ICEBlock doesn't collect personal data, such as device IDs and IP addresses, which TechCrunch has confirmed in a test. The app is only available on iOS, because it would have to collect information on Android that could put people at risk.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/iceblock-climbs-to-the-top-of-the-app-store-charts-after-officials-slam-it-004319963.html?src=rss