💻Data collection meets reality💻

So every year we invite the Secretary of State from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to speak and address the audience at BTF®. Every year until now, they've provided a representative! 

Yep despite the previously lot not exactly always being effusive about the causes we cared about, they still turned up because it was well a good thing for the ecosystem, business, votes, and more.

Sadly our invite was declined this year.

It's disappointing for us. Lots of planning, time and money goes into trying to make it happen but more so than that, we're sad that we won't get the chance to ask questions so often lacking in the critical discussions on tech and policy that matter to often marginalised communities. 

Our Co-founder will do a bit of a monologue at BTF but we wanted to make the questions public. You'll make up your minds whether its running from scrutiny, not important enough or if they genuinely just had better things to do (they did send their apologies in fairness), but in a week where they started to call out racism, launched a diversity in tech workforce, we've seen tensions on the rise for minority groups, and hundreds of techies are flying in from around the world to convene in London, we're disappointed by the snub.

Maybe they'll send a Happy black history month message.

Here are the questions we didn't get to ask

1. Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting:

What is happening re ethnicity pay gap reporting and is it still the agenda?

2. Bias in Public Sector AI:

What laws are you putting in place to ensure that AI tools procured by public bodies (e.g., Police, NHS) don't exacerbate systemic racial and/or socio-economic bias in their deployment and outcomes?

3. The DEI Pullback:

With many major tech companies pausing or scaling back their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, what policy interventions is the government prepared to enact to ensure the responsibility for inclusion across society does not solely rest on non-profits and individual employees?

4. Skills Policy vs. Market Reality:

Given the government's push for young people to pursue university or apprenticeships, what is your strategy to address the simultaneous sharp decline in entry-level tech roles, which disproportionately affects new, diverse talent entering the pipeline?

5. British Business Bank Direct Investment:

Since the British Business Bank (BBB) has the capacity and mandate for direct investment, how is the government using the public capital available to directly back and scale ethnic minority-led tech ventures, instead of solely relying on the often traditional VC landscape?

6. AI Regulation and Marginalised Voices:

When regulating cutting-edge technologies like Generative AI, how are the voices of ethnic minority and disabled communities—who are often the first and worst affected by biased technology—being included in the regulatory drafting process, not just consulted on after enactment?

7. Point of the New Taskforce:

The UK has seen numerous tech taskforces in the last five years. What is the specific, mission of this new body, and what measurable, concrete output will it deliver that is fundamentally different from and more effective than its predecessors?

📸Motherhood Penalty: The Numbers Are Brutal

New ONS data confirms what many working mums already know: having children comes with a pay cut that lasts years. Five years after their first child, mothers in England earn on average £1,051 less per month than before, with cumulative losses hitting £65,618.

Second and third children add further hits to the wallet—£26k and £32k respectively.

Campaigners call it “completely abhorrent” and “avoidable.” Stories like Femilola Miller’s make it concrete: equal pay pre‑kids, a £55k gap post‑kids, and promotions flowing to her husband while she clocks in full-time. Evie, from Newcastle, sums it up: “You’re expected to be a parent like you don’t work, but work like you haven’t got kids. You can’t win.”

The underlying drivers aren’t mystery: inflexible workplaces, maternity discrimination, unbalanced parental leave, and childcare costs all stack the deck. Even with legal protections and government initiatives like 30 hours of funded childcare, up to 74,000 new or expectant mums lose jobs each year due to discrimination.

Some folks out there who share the views of Elon musk will have you believe that the solution to this is more division or colonising other planets versus perhaps better tax funded maternity pay or rights for workers. You can let us know what you think

Read more:
BBC news

🫱🏾‍🫲🏻The world has a new most valuable startup🫱🏾‍🫲🏻

OpenAI just vaulted to a $500 billion valuation, topping SpaceX and becoming the world’s most valuable private startup💸

Current and former employees sold around $6.6 billion in shares to investors including SoftBank, Thrive Capital, Dragoneer, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, giving insiders a liquidity party without taking the company public. Some employees clearly think OpenAI is worth holding on to—but the question for the rest of us is, does this valuation actually make sense?🤔

The company projects $20 billion in recurring revenue by the end of 2025. Impressive? Sure—until you remember that in emerging markets, $20/month is a lot of disposable income, potentially more than a user’s entire data plan. Meanwhile, OpenAI is on track to burn $115 billion through 2029 on AI infrastructure and talent. So far, the company’s revenue still pales in comparison to the cash it’s raising and the valuation it’s claiming. Investors are effectively betting on potential future dominance, including e-commerce plays like Etsy’s Instant Checkout, possible ad placements in ChatGPT and the Sora AI video app, and the hope that AI-native content becomes the next must-consume media category🖥️

In traditional terms, OpenAI’s valuation is staggering. The enterprise-value-to-revenue ratio overshoots even the so-called Magnificent Seven tech companies, and profitability isn’t expected until 2029 (MarketWatch, 2025). But if OpenAI captures even 5% of Google, Microsoft, and Apple’s combined market share (~$9.4 trillion), its valuation might not be as outrageous as it first appears (FT, 2025)🤔

The real “so what” is that OpenAI is no longer just a chatbot—it’s a global AI platform with ambitions that stretch across search, commerce, advertising, and social media.📲

For employees, investors, and AI enthusiasts watching from the sidelines, OpenAI’s $500B price tag is a combination of bold bets, sky-high expectations, and headline-grabbing optics. Sure, revenue may or may not keep pace—but when a company can reshape the way humans interact with technology, maybe market magic is part of the package. Until then, it’s a reminder that sky-high valuations don’t automatically equal cash in the bank, but they do make for a very flashy story💰

Oh and Elon Musk's personal valuation is also now ~$500bn so he's half way to being the first trillionaire. 

If $500 billion were distributed equally to every person on the planet, each person would receive approximately $61. or if it went to the bottom 10% of the worlds poorest people, it would be a one-time payment of $980.39 is equivalent to about 1.25 years of income for a person living at the extreme poverty line.

Some would say thats probably a better thing he could do with his time than amplify hate, cut aid and retweet fake news. We couldn't possibly comment.

Sources:

• Financial Times. (2025, August 6). How to reason with OpenAI’s spiralling valuation. 

• MarketWatch. (2025, October 2). OpenAI joins an elite club with its new $500 billion valuation. Now the pressure is on.

• CNBC. (2025, October 2). OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation. 

• Reuters. (2025, October 2). OpenAI hits $500 billion valuation after share sale to SoftBank, others, source says. 

📉 So what?

It's a bet on the potentials versus revenues today.

🤖Ads in your AI🤖

CNBC reports that Meta is taking personalisation to the next level: your conversations with its AI assistant are about to become ad fodder. Planning a family vacation with Meta AI? Don’t be surprised if your Facebook Reels suddenly serve up beach resorts, travel deals, and family-friendly hotels. Oh, and if you’re wearing your Ray-Ban Meta glasses, even your voice chats count. Yep AI in your ads is here📲

The kicker: you cannot opt out. But hey, if you ignore the AI altogether, the update “won’t apply” to you. Basically, your best defense is… do nothing. Which, well we imagine the EU wont like🇪🇺

It’s all part of Zuckerberg & Co.’s master plan to squeeze every cent from generative AI investments while making your digital life eerily prescient. The silver lining? You’ll finally get ads that are exactly what you were talking about. Creepy? Maybe.

CNBC.com😓

Talking about paying, Nearly a decade after becoming a digital time capsule for your life’s moments, Snapchat is set to put a price on its Memories feature. The company announced last week that it’s capping free Memories storage at 5GB.

If your Memories exceed the limit, you will need to either export them or sign up for one of Snapchat’s new Memories Storage plans in order to preserve them.

The company told TechCrunch in an email that the introductory storage plan offers up to 100GB of storage for $1.99 per month. Snapchat+ users will get up to 250GB of storage as part of their $3.99 monthly subscription, while Snapchat Platinum users will get 5TB as part of their $15.99 monthly subscription.

If you’re over the limit but don’t sign up for a plan, your oldest Snaps will be saved, while the most recent ones will be deleted to stay within the storage limit.

Although the company has given users 12 months of temporary storage for Memories that exceed the 5GB limit, some users are proactively choosing to export their Memories instead of paying up.

📉 So what?

Tech costs money and unless you're happy to sit through a barrage of Ads then you're going to have to pay up

🖥️AI Isn’t Killing Jobs (Yet) — Chill Out, Humans🖥️

The Financial Times reports that despite the hysteria, AI chatbots and fancy automation tools are not devouring your career just yet (FT, 3 Oct 2025).😅

Turns out, while AI might be taking over some mundane tasks, it’s also quietly creating new ones and boosting productivity across sectors.

Basically, it’s like a slightly terrifying intern who also happens to be better than you at lots of things, but is still happy to make your coffee and sort your spreadsheets.😂

Yes, you’ll still need to show up to work, but maybe now you can spend less time doing the boring bits and more time pretending to look busy in meetings — all thanks to your robot overlords. The study serves as a reminder that AI is more “sidekick” than “career assassin,” at least for now.🦸🏿

Of course, this all hinges on how businesses actually deploy AI and whether humans get any support to level up. Ignore this at your peril, though: ignoring AI will not make it vanish, and it certainly won’t stop it from nudging you out of your comfort zone💻

Source: Financial Times, “AI Is Not Killing Jobs, US Study Finds,” 3 October 2025 — FT.com

🧠So what?

So relax. AI isn’t killing jobs. It’s just making work a little weirder, a little faster, and a lot more ironic... For now 

🧠BTF Deep Dive🧠

Get your ticket. It's this week. Next week is too late and next year is never guaranteed! 

joinbtf.com

🧠So what?

What are you waiting for 

📈 The tools behind the tech📉

📦Product📦

• Sora 2 is here

📏Design📏 

• Drunk CSS

👩🏿‍💻Code👩🏿‍💻

• Write the damn code
• Claude code

🏢The business behind the tech🏢

• Scaling engineering teams
• How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
  

AI Learning sprint

CALLING THOSE IN/NEAR BIRMINGHAM:

Do you have a challenge or ideas that can be built using AI

At Colorintech, we believe you don’t need to be an expert to start building with AI🚀

With many possible no-code solutions, anyone can explore AI, develop a solution to a real-world problem, and build a working prototype using no-code AI solutions… All you need is the right support😊

That’s why we created the… 

AI Learning Sprint

After our first successful trial of the Sprint in London, we’re excited to launch the second Sprint in Birmingham with our brilliant facilitator and educator André Skepple! 

What does the programme look like:
Over the course of a full day session in Birmingham, you’ll:

🔍Identify a problem you care about or a challenge you’re facing;

💡Understand and build the skill sets needed to effectively use AI tools;

🧠Create a solution for your idea / challenge using innovative 🤖AI Tools that do not require coding experience;

🙋Meet, build and network with other cohort participants;

🔧Walk away with a certificate, a prototype you can share, and future-ready skills.

What are the programme logistics:

In order to take part in the programme, you must:

✅Have an idea / challenge you’d like to work on;

✅Attend our full day session on the 24th October 2025 in Birmingham;

✅Complete the pre-work so you can make the most out of the day!

This isn’t just a programme, it’s a chance to make an impact in your life.

If you’re interested, applications are open now! Apply using the link below before the 13th Oct (11:59pm):
Application link: https://form.typeform.com/to/cmnmPCsD

Pioneer and Protect with BAE Systems 

On Nov 6th, we’re working with BAE Systems to run a recruitment focused event for mid-senior roles (3+ years experience) in: 

🚀Systems Engineering; 

🚀Cyber Security; 

🚀Data Analytics and Sciences!

This exclusive evening event will provide you with great insights and understanding into what it’s like to work in the world of defence and security through a brilliant keynote and an enlightening panel!

Following our talks, there will be dedicated networking time so you can meet and connect with the speakers, employees, talent acquisition, and other members of the Colorintech community. 

If you want to explore career opportunities in the defence and security industry and be inspired by leading voices at BAE Systems, then be sure to check out the key details below:

📅Date: Thursday 6th Nov 2025

🕐Time: 18:30 - 21:30 UK Time

📍Where: London (Zone 1) - Venue Confirmed 24 Hours Before

As this event has limited and selected spaces, we'll need you to register your interest to attend using our application form below which closes on the 28th October: 

https://form.typeform.com/to/ZSo5HtJ4

After applying, we will reach out to you and provide you with next steps if the BAE Systems team has invited you along!

BTF

Mark your calendars: 9 October 2025 | Drumsheds, London

Europe’s largest festival celebrating tech, culture & innovation returns — and it’s shaping up to be unmissable. Expect:

• 8,000+ attendees from across tech, VC, and creative industries

• Headline conversations with global icons (past guests include Munya Chawawa, Krept & DJ AG — this year we’re going even bigger 👀)

• Deep-dive AI & Future of Work stages, startup pitch battles, and networking that actually works

• Culture, music & food — from Wingstop to Black East LDN food court vibes 🍔🍹

🎟️ Early access tickets & full agenda: Joinbtf.com

This is where the future of tech gets built — inclusively. Be in the room.

😃What we are consuming😃

 📈AMD stock sores on news of an Open AI deal

🔍 Perplexity make their comet browser free

🍻Japan faces Asahi beer shortage after cyber-attack

💰$1.1m to dive down internet loop holes

📱App stores ban ICE tracking apps, but should they

📱The UK wants Apple User data

💔AI girlfriends

🚦More info on Digital ID cards

🇦🇱Albania's newest minister is AI

🎥Tilly Norwood, the AI Actress Making

🎥OpenAI's invite-only Sora app shot up to #1 on the App Store, Rights-holders had to “opt out” to stop people from making Grand Theft Auto videos featuring Sponge Bob and Mario, the filters now seem to be blocking everything interesting.