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Upwork is buying its way into corporate staffing beyond freelancers | TechCrunch

Upwork is buying its way into corporate staffing beyond freelancers | TechCrunch

Upwork, a platform that connects companies with freelancers, announced two acquisitions to help build out a new stand-alone enterprise-focused business that could expand its market reach.

The San Francisco-based company announced it has acquired Bubty, a workforce management platform, and has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ascen, a global compliance and EOR (employer of record) company, ahead of its second-quarter earnings call on August 6.

Upwork will integrate these two companies into its existing enterprise business to create a stand-alone entity under the Upwork umbrella.

The move is significant because it will allow Upwork to offer access to talent beyond the independent contractor workforce Upwork is known for — essentially enabling the company to compete in new areas of the corporate staffing market. The new entity will support contract types, including agent of record, employer of record, and staff augmentation.

Upwork president and CEO Hayden Brown told TechCrunch that the timing was right to launch this new enterprise-focused business because Upwork’s existing enterprise customers have been increasingly asking for access to these talent pools.

“Most of the providers that exist today force their customers to choose between flexibility and compliance, or speed and scale, or having a digital tool versus having something that’s actually robust and for the enterprise,” Brown said. “And with this new capability, we’re refusing to compromise. We’re giving our customers all of the benefits they’ve been looking for, and we’ve heard loud and clear that they want this singular solution.”

Brown said that Upwork’s existing enterprise business makes up about $100 million of the company’s overall $750 million in yearly revenue.

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Upwork decided to make the enterprise business a stand-alone entity because enterprises have very different needs regarding compliance and software integrations than the small and midsize businesses Upwork’s main business works with.

Keeping them separate allows for better external branding and better internal focus, Brown said.

Upwork vetted more than 100 potential companies to acquire to build out this business, Brown said. The company landed on Bubty and Ascen not only for what they bring separately but also for how they worked together — Upwork piloted the companies both individually and together.

“We saw through the power of those pilots how impactful their technology was and how easy it was to basically snap together what each of them offers, along with our existing offering to deliver something very new and innovative in the market,” Brown added.

Details on the branding and full offerings of the new stand-alone business are set to be unveiled later this year.

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White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight">Trump considering federal AI model oversight
                                                            White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported. 
        SEE ALSO:
        
            Student sues matchmaking app for allegedly stealing her likeness for an ad
            
        
    
The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. 
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times. The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight. 
Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Trump #federal #model #oversight

government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight">Trump considering federal AI model oversight

White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight

On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint to add the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003 (the “Revocable Trust”) as a defendant to this action. The amended complaint alleges that the defendants failed to timely file a beneficial ownership report with the Commission after the Revocable Trust acquired beneficial ownership of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter, Inc. common stock, in violation of the beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).

The SEC simultaneously moved for entry of a consent final judgment as to the Revocable Trust. Without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint as to the Revocable Trust, the Revocable Trust consented to entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin it from violating Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13d-1 thereunder and order it to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million.

As explained in the consent motion, if the court enters the proposed final judgment as to the Revocable Trust as proposed by the Revocable Trust and the SEC, the SEC will file a stipulated dismissal of Elon Musk in his personal capacity, which will resolve this case in its entirety.

#Elon #Musk #settle #feds #Twitter #lawsuit #pocket #changeElon Musk,Law,News,Policy,Tech,Twitter – X">Elon Musk will settle the feds’ Twitter lawsuit with pocket changeOn May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint to add the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003 (the “Revocable Trust”) as a defendant to this action. The amended complaint alleges that the defendants failed to timely file a beneficial ownership report with the Commission after the Revocable Trust acquired beneficial ownership of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter, Inc. common stock, in violation of the beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).The SEC simultaneously moved for entry of a consent final judgment as to the Revocable Trust. Without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint as to the Revocable Trust, the Revocable Trust consented to entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin it from violating Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13d-1 thereunder and order it to pay a civil penalty of .5 million.As explained in the consent motion, if the court enters the proposed final judgment as to the Revocable Trust as proposed by the Revocable Trust and the SEC, the SEC will file a stipulated dismissal of Elon Musk in his personal capacity, which will resolve this case in its entirety.#Elon #Musk #settle #feds #Twitter #lawsuit #pocket #changeElon Musk,Law,News,Policy,Tech,Twitter – X

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