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How many unique passwords do you use to secure every single one of your hundreds of online accounts? If your answer isn't, "I have a strong unique password for every account," then you're among the millions of people at risk of having multiple accounts stolen from just a single password leak. All it takes is the right combination.

But that doesn't have to be the case. Using a password manager to generate and store your credentials is a secure and convenient way to prevent your accounts from being hacked. The best part is, Keeper has cut prices on its personal, family, and business starter plans by up to 50%.

Keeper's password manager offers secured password storage vaults, a password generator that easily complies with password strength requirements, and includes convenient features for privately sharing regularly used passwords - like the one for the Wi-Fi.

Get up to 50% off Keeper plans

Keeper is offering 50% off its Personal and Family plans, making it even more affordable to secure both personal and household accounts. The Family plan covers multiple users with five secured vaults, making it perfect for shared accounts without the hassle of mixing browsers and reusing passwords.

Keeper Business Starter is discounted by 30%, and is an excellent choice for small teams looking for a credentials control platform without the complexity and hassle of enduring an enterprise rollout. It includes centralized management, secure password sharing, and role-based access, cleanly organizing your passwords without unnecessary complications.

The full terms and pricing are available on the Keeper site.View Deal

Why we recommend Keeper

Our Keeper review found the password manager to be an excellent addition to anyone wanting to improve their personal or household security.

The service uses zero knowledge architecture and device level encryption to keep the contents of your personal vault hidden from private eyes.

Rather than having to enter your master password each time you need to fill in your credentials, Keeper uses biometric security to access your vault. This uses the built in facial scan or fingerprint tech on your device. Keeper will also recognize when you are trying to log in to a website or app, and allow you to autofill the exact credentials you need.

Four households, the family plan includes five private vaults, allowing you to quickly share Wi-Fi or streaming passwords using Keeper's shared vaults.

These discounts apply to the first year only, so the value is highest for new customers or anyone switching from a monthly plan. After that, pricing goes back to standard rates.

• Amnezia VPN has restored its Premium service in Russia
• Amnezia Free is expected return in the coming weeks
• Roskomnadzor blocked over 90% of its local servers between June 1 and 15

Russian privacy provider Amnezia VPN has successfully restored its Premium service for users in the country, after suffering an unprecedented state-backed infrastructure strike.

Between June 1 and June 15, millions of Amnezia users in Russia lost their connection after the state censor, Roskomnadzor (RKN), launched a multi-pronged offensive that blocked over 90% of the provider's local servers.

The strike represents a dramatic escalation in Moscow's digital crackdown, deploying automated network fingerprinting and targeted cyberattacks to actively hunt down VPN infrastructure.

While the Premium tier is now back online with a newly updated, stealthier protocol, Amnezia has confirmed that its Free tier's Russian stack will return in the coming weeks.

For internet users trapped behind Russia's "sovereign internet" firewall, the stakes have never been higher. Identifying the best VPN has become a critical lifeline to the free web as the state dumps massive resources into its censorship machine.

A sophisticated, $898 million censorship machine

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to Amnezia’s incident analysis, Roskomnadzor has abandoned basic IP-blocking in favor of a highly automated, aggressive ruleset.

By analyzing network traffic, Russian authorities appear to have learned to identify the unique "network fingerprint" of specific VPN protocols — Amnezia's proprietary AmneziaWG protocol included.

Once RKN's internet censorship and filtering system (known as TSPU) detects this fingerprint, it automatically blacklists the server's IP address. During the June assault, Amnezia attempted to swap out its servers, only to see the fresh IP addresses blocked within hours.

This technological leap is heavily state-funded. Forbes Russia and Kommersant estimate nearly 60 billion roubles (770million) is being spent to strengthen the filtering system, while The Moscow Times projects a wider RKN budget allocation of 70billion roubles (898 million) between 2026 and 2028.

To compound the technical assault, RKN paired its deep packet inspection with traditional hacking tactics, launching active DDoS attacks on VPN services. THis wave of attacks even targeted the Amnezia website, while deploying phishing schemes against the provider's staff.

Mazay Banzaev, founder of Amnezia VPN, believes this escalation is a proof that Roskomnadzor had been preparing a new set of rules for the TSPU for a long time, and fully applied them on June 1. He now expects these measure to be extended to other services operating in Russia.

"Such practices have been used in other countries too, Iran and China, for example, but in Russia they have been taken to a new level of automation: on average, a server is blocked within a few hours of users beginning to connect to it," said Banzaev.

Bouncing back with better security

Despite the severity of the attack, Amnezia confirmed that no infrastructure was breached and user data remained secure, crediting regular security audits by independent cybersecurity firm 7ASecurity.

To bypass the new TSPU ruleset, Amnezia has dropped a new version of its AmneziaWG protocol. This update strips out the specific feature that allowed censors to identify the VPN traffic in the first place. Users must update their AmneziaVPN client to restore their connection, as the provider has intentionally disabled older, vulnerable versions of the app to prevent repeat attacks.

To make up for the downtime, Amnezia is also compensating affected users. Premium subscribers on a 6-month plan will receive one extra month of service, while those on 12-month plans will receive two additional months.

The provider now has its sights set on future expansion, noting that interest in circumventing state censorship continues to surge globally. Amnezia plans to expand its network to 100 locations while developing new, open-source methods to outsmart the censors.

• Microsoft Frontier Company to embed 6,000 engineers and specialists into customer organizations
• Backed by $2.5 billion in Microsoft funding, it will help customers transform with custom AI
• This is the "largest" of its type, 2.5x the value of Amazon's alternative

Microsoft has launched a brand new subdivision to expand its own AI consultants into customers' companies backed by a massive $2.5 billion investment.

The new Microsoft Frontier Company will embed more than 6,000 specialists, AI engineers and technical experts directly inside customer organizations to help build, deploy and optimize their own AI strategies.

Microsoft described it as the "largest, most capable, outcome-driven engineering organization in the industry" – the scheme comes days after Amazon announced a similar scheme backed by $1 billion.

Microsoft launches forward-deployed engineer (FDE) program for AI

Though similar in concept to other FDE programs, Microsoft believes its Frontier Company will be different in that it adds extra layers of industry expertise, change management, continuous improvement and more, rather than just racing to deliver AI ROI.

Microsoft Commercial Business CEO Judson Althoff emphasized the importance of intelligence and trust in tailoring a suitable AI strategy for its customers. Intelligence's role involves understanding broad organizational context, workflows and processes, while trust is all about governance, observability and accountability.

Early Frontier Company customers include LSEG and Unilever, and of course, being an enterprise-focused solution, the company stressed that proprietary data, workflows and more remain private to companies and doesn't get used to train models.

Another major selling point for the "largest" AI FDE scheme in the industry is that customers can pick and choose between models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and other open-source alternatives to provide the best solution for every workload, rather than forcing companies to lock in to one single tool.

Microsoft Frontier Company will be led by former President of Microsoft Asia, Rodrigo Kede Lima. "He has been at the forefront of helping customers and partners translate technology shifts into business outcomes, and understanding how platform innovation, engineering and partner ecosystem collaboration come together to drive growth," Althoff wrote.

• A new leak shows off the Nothing Ear 3(a)
• We see the earbuds in four colors, with the case
• The official unveiling is scheduled for tomorrow

If you can't wait until tomorrow for the official unveiling of the Nothing Ear 3(a), the budget wireless earbuds have now appeared in an extensive leak that reveals the design, colors, and features — so this is pretty much a full spoiler.

The early reveal comes courtesy of WinFuture, and is based on information from retailers who couldn't wait to get their listings live. We can see the earbuds in all four of the already announced colors: black, white, yellow, and pink.

There are a few interesting tidbits here, but when it comes to the aesthetics, there are no dramatic surprises: the look of these earbuds is very reminiscent of previous Nothing Ear models, with the semi-transparent stems and the transparent lid on the charging case.

What we do learn is that the Nothing Ear 3(a) are set to come with a 12-millimeter driver, as well as support for LDAC and Hi-Res Audio Wireless — so while the price is affordable, it seems the audio quality won't be compromised too much.

Touch to record

Only dating DJs this summer.Ear (3a)7 July, 11:00 BSTShot on Nothingw/ Phone (4b) pic.twitter.com/srMb5bykNeJune 30, 2026

The leak gives us a glimpse of what seems to be a special feature we haven't seen from Nothing products before: the ability to press the stem of the earbuds to record voice notes, which is something to look out for.

WinFuture also refers back to previous leaks that mentioned a retail price of €99, so it would appear that the upcoming wireless earbuds are going to stick to the $99 / £99 / AU$169 starting price of the excellent Nothing Ear (a).

In our Nothing Ear 3 review, we praised those earbuds for offering "zealous, customizable sound" — though we weren't quite sure about how much value for money they offered, which is something this new pair might move the dial on.

One of the quirks of the Nothing Ear 3 is the 'Super Mic' that's included in the charging case, which you can use for calls and voice notes instead of the microphones on the earbuds — but as yet it's not clear if the Nothing Ear 3(a) will offer the same feature.

• Oura is bringing key features from its Ring 5 wearable to older models
• The features include Health Radar, live activity tracking, and more
• They’re now available on the Oura Ring 4 and Ring 3

Oura has just released its Ring 5 wearable, and we were pretty impressed with what was on show when we reviewed it. But if you haven’t been tempted to upgrade and are instead rocking an Oura Ring 4 or Ring 3, you might wonder if you’ll miss out on the new features packed into the latest model.

Well, the good news is that plenty of the new features have just been rolled out to those older products. Specifically, Oura is bringing Health Radar, live activity tracking, numerous Oura Labs tools, lost device locating, and a lot more.

Live activity tracking is a notable addition, as it adds real-time workout metrics to the Oura app, allowing you to monitor your progress as you’re keeping fit and active. It turns the Oura Ring into much more of a workout partner than before.

Health Radar, too, is a sizable update. With it on board, your Oura Ring can assess your long-term health signals in the background, including changes to your heart and breathing rates, to spot any emerging patterns in your health and wellbeing.

You’ll be able to find the full list of updates in Oura’s blog post. If you’ve been mulling over whether to upgrade, it could prove to be an insightful read.

A welcome change

(Image credit: Future)

Changes like this are very welcome, especially since the Oura Ring 4 is less than two years old at this point. It’s never nice to see relatively recent tech missing out on key software features that could feasibly be backported to it, so the fact that this has happened will be great news for owners of the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring 3.

The update seems to have gone down well with customers, too. Posting on Reddit, user beanizzle noted that their Oura Ring can now recognize long-haul travel without any status needing to be manually entered. Speaking of the change, the user said: “This is definitely a great new feature as I sometimes struggle to remember to give my body more grace after traveling through time zones.”

They weren’t alone. Further down the thread, other commenters remarked how their readiness scores went haywire after taking red-eye flights, while another Redditor declared that the feature is “long overdue but so glad to have it!”

If these are the sorts of features you’re looking for in a wearable, Oura’s latest update means you might not need to upgrade to an Oura Ring 5 if you already have a Ring 4 or Ring 3. And anything that can eke extra life out of your existing wearables is good with us.

The temperature is rising again, and fans are selling out fast, but you don't need to settle for something sub-par that will just waft warm air around. I've done the hard work for you, combing through online stores to bring you a list of eight top-quality fans from big names that are ready to dispatch right now — and they're all under £100.

There's something for every room here, including compact desktop fans for working, and extra-quiet tower fans to help you sleep better at night, plus lightweight handheld fans to keep you comfortable on the move,

Remember, they're likely to sell out fast as the temperature climbs, so I'd recommend grabbing one while you can. Personally, I've just opted for the MeacoFan Sefte 8in Air Circulator, which moves a large volume of air and is ideal for bringing the night breeze indoors when the temperature drops outside in the evening. Which one will you pick?

Quality fans under £100

MEACO Meacofan Sefte 8in Air Circulator

DREO 20dB Standing Fan for Bedroom

Dyson HushJet Mini Cool Fan - Ink/Cobalt

Dimplex Mont Blanc Cooling Tower Fan

MEACO Meacofan Sefte 6in Air Circulator

Dyson HushJet Mini Cool Fan - Stone/Blush

DREO 25dB Quiet Desk Fan For Bedroom

Dimplex Anthracite Tower Fan

Answer me honestly: do you actually understand what is going on in From season 4? I'm the first to admit that I have no idea, and it feels like the amount of lore I need to keep up with is spiralling out of control.

So it doesn't help, then, when the internet decides to add its own non-canonical lore that doesn't even exist. I'm talking about the Reddit rumors that From season 4 episode 11 exists, explaining all the plot holes that episode 10 (the actual season finale) left unanswered.

"Episode 11 is the best one yet," the thread begins. "They answered everything... every question."

A second fan added, "The pacing was insane. Answers actually landed instead of just more riddles."

But it should go without saying that From season 4 episode 11 doesn't exist, despite an alarming number of people searching for it.

Instead, we've got to wait for the already-renewed season 5, which is rumored to air at some point in 2027.

However, now is not the time to let our MGM+ subscriptions go to waste. From season 4 might be over, but get ready for your latest bingeable obsession: The Westies.

The Westies premieres on MGM+ this week — here's why you need to stream it

With a cast led by JK Simmons, The Westies follows a fictional version of the real-life Irish crime gang in New York of the same name.

As MGM explains, "The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.

"But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia."

If that hasn't sold you already, The Westies is getting an epic police procedural crossover in the form of Bosch star Titus Welliver, who is playing the lead FBI agent tasked with tracking the mobsters down.

Don't be fooled by the above trailer, either — new episodes are about as gory, gruesome and disturbing as TV can get. Episodes premiere on July 12th and are released on a weekly basis (just like From).

Sure, it's a completely different kind of mystery... but you're welcome, in advance.

Answer me honestly: do you actually understand what is going on in From season 4? I'm the first to admit that I have no idea, and it feels like the amount of lore I need to keep up with is spiralling out of control.

So it doesn't help, then, when the internet decides to add its own non-canonical lore that doesn't even exist. I'm talking about the Reddit rumors that From season 4 episode 11 exists, explaining all the plot holes that episode 10 (the actual season finale) left unanswered.

"Episode 11 is the best one yet," the thread begins. "They answered everything... every question."

A second fan added, "The pacing was insane. Answers actually landed instead of just more riddles."

But it should go without saying that From season 4 episode 11 doesn't exist, despite an alarming number of people searching for it.

Instead, we've got to wait for the already-renewed season 5, which is rumored to air at some point in 2027.

However, now is not the time to let our MGM+ subscriptions go to waste. From season 4 might be over, but get ready for your latest bingeable obsession: The Westies.

The Westies premieres on MGM+ this week — here's why you need to stream it

With a cast led by JK Simmons, The Westies follows a fictional version of the real-life Irish crime gang in New York of the same name.

As MGM explains, "The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.

"But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia."

If that hasn't sold you already, The Westies is getting an epic police procedural crossover in the form of Bosch star Titus Welliver, who is playing the lead FBI agent tasked with tracking the mobsters down.

Don't be fooled by the above trailer, either — new episodes are about as gory, gruesome and disturbing as TV can get. Episodes premiere on July 12th and are released on a weekly basis (just like From).

Sure, it's a completely different kind of mystery... but you're welcome, in advance.

• Xbox has announced that it is undergoing a "significant restructure"
• This will include the loss of 3,200 jobs over the fiscal year
• This includes 1,600 job losses today

Microsoft has announced that Xbox is to undergo the "most significant restructure" in the brand's history, with 1,600 jobs being cut today, for a total 3,200 jobs going over the coming months including four studios being jettisoned.

In another crushing blow for the people who make the games we love, these layoffs were strongly rumored to be coming this week — the sheer scale was unknown but predicted to be big. It turns out that was true.

In an email sent to Xbox employees that has now been made public via Xbox Wire, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma began by saying, "After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave Xbox to new management."

Sharma added: "Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected."

As well as the total of 3,200 jobs going this fiscal year, four studios are also affected. Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions are returning to being independent studios, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will gain new ownership with funding to complete their upcoming games, Senua and State of Decay 3.

Arkane — a studio many feared for in the run-up to this restructuring — is "beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options."

In a series of moves over the past decade or so, which has seen Microsoft acquire multiple studios, spend billions and billions of dollars, and make some curious decisions about Game Pass, prices, and more — all to take the brand from third in the console space to, well, third — this kind of feels like the bubble bursting before our very eyes. And the people who will pay the price will be the developers who make the games we all love playing.

• Xbox has announced that it is undergoing a "significant restructure"
• This will include the loss of 3,200 jobs over the fiscal year
• This includes 1,600 job losses today

Microsoft has announced that Xbox is to undergo the "most significant restructure" in the brand's history, with 1,600 jobs being cut today, for a total 3,200 jobs going over the coming months including four studios being jettisoned.

In another crushing blow for the people who make the games we love, these layoffs were strongly rumored to be coming this week — the sheer scale was unknown but predicted to be big. It turns out that was true.

In an email sent to Xbox employees that has now been made public via Xbox Wire, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma began by saying, "After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave Xbox to new management."

Sharma added: "Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected."

As well as the total of 3,200 jobs going this fiscal year, four studios are also affected. Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions are returning to being independent studios, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will gain new ownership with funding to complete their upcoming games, Senua and State of Decay 3.

Arkane — a studio many feared for in the run-up to this restructuring — is "beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options."

In a series of moves over the past decade or so, which has seen Microsoft acquire multiple studios, spend billions and billions of dollars, and make some curious decisions about Game Pass, prices, and more — all to take the brand from third in the console space to, well, third — this kind of feels like the bubble bursting before our very eyes. And the people who will pay the price will be the developers who make the games we all love playing.

The competition in artificial intelligence between the United States and China extends beyond a binary race for supremacy. The current landscape is more accurately characterized as "complementary competition."

While the United States and China compete, they occupy distinct positions within the global AI value chain, each possessing unique strengths that do not fully overlap.

This complementary competition is shaping the global AI industry through differentiated yet interconnected advantages.

The United States maintains leadership in foundational aspects of AI, including frontier model development, advanced semiconductors, cloud computing, basic research, and the broader developer ecosystem. Companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Nvidia significantly influence the architecture of the global AI industry.

For example, NVIDIA’s dominance in high-end GPUs provides the United States with a significant advantage in the computing layer. Additionally, leading universities, advanced research laboratories, and robust venture capital networks continue to supply AI development with talent, innovation, and funding.

According to Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report, the United States attracted 109.1 billion dollars in private AI investment in 2024, and American institutions produced 40 of the world’s 50 most notable AI models.

This concentration of capital, research, and platform-building capacity reinforces the United States' position as a primary provider of the underlying AI architecture.

China's strengths in commercial contexts

In contrast, China is increasingly recognized for its strength in large-scale deployment of AI within industrial and commercial contexts. The Chinese industrial system is extensive, encompassing manufacturing, logistics, energy, automotive, electronics, and urban infrastructure. These sectors generate numerous real-world use cases for AI deployment, testing, and iteration.

China further benefits from tightly integrated supply chains and industrial clusters. For instance, in Shenzhen, hardware suppliers, software teams, factories, and logistics networks are highly interconnected, enabling rapid progression from concept to prototype to iteration. This integration allows China to embed AI into economic processes effectively, rather than confining its application to laboratory research or consumer chatbots.

This is why the U.S.-China AI competition is better understood as complementary rather than a zero-sum game. The U.S. provides many of the key enabling technologies, research breakthroughs, and software foundations. China excels at translating AI into industrial systems, business processes, and scaled commercialization. The two sides still compete intensely, especially over chips, standards, talent, and platform influence.

But they also pressure each other in different directions: the U.S. advances raise the technological frontier, while China’s deployment capacity pushes AI toward broader practice. Together, they shape the pace and structure of global AI development. This broader dynamic also elucidates why agentic AI products, such as Atoms, have disruptive potential.

A significant shift

This shift is particularly significant for small businesses and individual founders. For example, a local service company can develop internal booking tools, a startup can rapidly test landing pages and advertising campaigns, and a consumer brand can assess product demand before making substantial investments. In each scenario, the primary value lies not only in automation but also in time savings, cost reduction, and improved coordination.

Within the framework of complementary competition, products such as Atoms occupy the intersection of American and Chinese strengths. These products rely on foundational model capabilities, cloud infrastructure, and agent architectures typically associated with the American AI ecosystem.

However, their greatest commercial impact may occur in contexts characterized by rapid deployment, cost-effective experimentation, and industry-specific integration, domains in which China holds considerable advantages. Thus, the future of global AI will likely be determined not solely by leadership in research or deployment speed, but by the ability to connect advanced intelligence with practical economic workflows effectively.

This is where complementary competition is most evident.

We've reviewed and ranked the best business cloud storage services.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

The competition in artificial intelligence between the United States and China extends beyond a binary race for supremacy. The current landscape is more accurately characterized as "complementary competition."

While the United States and China compete, they occupy distinct positions within the global AI value chain, each possessing unique strengths that do not fully overlap.

This complementary competition is shaping the global AI industry through differentiated yet interconnected advantages.

The United States maintains leadership in foundational aspects of AI, including frontier model development, advanced semiconductors, cloud computing, basic research, and the broader developer ecosystem. Companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Nvidia significantly influence the architecture of the global AI industry.

For example, NVIDIA’s dominance in high-end GPUs provides the United States with a significant advantage in the computing layer. Additionally, leading universities, advanced research laboratories, and robust venture capital networks continue to supply AI development with talent, innovation, and funding.

According to Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report, the United States attracted 109.1 billion dollars in private AI investment in 2024, and American institutions produced 40 of the world’s 50 most notable AI models.

This concentration of capital, research, and platform-building capacity reinforces the United States' position as a primary provider of the underlying AI architecture.

China's strengths in commercial contexts

In contrast, China is increasingly recognized for its strength in large-scale deployment of AI within industrial and commercial contexts. The Chinese industrial system is extensive, encompassing manufacturing, logistics, energy, automotive, electronics, and urban infrastructure. These sectors generate numerous real-world use cases for AI deployment, testing, and iteration.

China further benefits from tightly integrated supply chains and industrial clusters. For instance, in Shenzhen, hardware suppliers, software teams, factories, and logistics networks are highly interconnected, enabling rapid progression from concept to prototype to iteration. This integration allows China to embed AI into economic processes effectively, rather than confining its application to laboratory research or consumer chatbots.

This is why the U.S.-China AI competition is better understood as complementary rather than a zero-sum game. The U.S. provides many of the key enabling technologies, research breakthroughs, and software foundations. China excels at translating AI into industrial systems, business processes, and scaled commercialization. The two sides still compete intensely, especially over chips, standards, talent, and platform influence.

But they also pressure each other in different directions: the U.S. advances raise the technological frontier, while China’s deployment capacity pushes AI toward broader practice. Together, they shape the pace and structure of global AI development. This broader dynamic also elucidates why agentic AI products, such as Atoms, have disruptive potential.

A significant shift

This shift is particularly significant for small businesses and individual founders. For example, a local service company can develop internal booking tools, a startup can rapidly test landing pages and advertising campaigns, and a consumer brand can assess product demand before making substantial investments. In each scenario, the primary value lies not only in automation but also in time savings, cost reduction, and improved coordination.

Within the framework of complementary competition, products such as Atoms occupy the intersection of American and Chinese strengths. These products rely on foundational model capabilities, cloud infrastructure, and agent architectures typically associated with the American AI ecosystem.

However, their greatest commercial impact may occur in contexts characterized by rapid deployment, cost-effective experimentation, and industry-specific integration, domains in which China holds considerable advantages. Thus, the future of global AI will likely be determined not solely by leadership in research or deployment speed, but by the ability to connect advanced intelligence with practical economic workflows effectively.

This is where complementary competition is most evident.

We've reviewed and ranked the best business cloud storage services.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

For over a decade, driving profit from your website was relatively simple. Find the right keywords, optimize your site to rank for them, then convert as many visitors as you can.

But as AI overviews and conversational answer engines continue to replace search engines, traditional clicks from SERPs are rapidly dropping.

Fortunately, this shift isn't a death sentence for websites; in fact, it could be a big opportunity.

I caught up with Aja Frost, Senior Director of Global Growth and Paid at HubSpot, to get some insight into how HubSpot has reshaped its marketing strategy, helping it achieve a massive 1,850% increase in qualified leads from AI and a 3x higher conversion rate compared to traditional search.

With organic sessions and clicks sharply dropping for many websites, how can marketers continue to prove ROI? What are the new baseline metrics businesses should be measuring?

Traffic volume is no longer the right North Star metric. When AI answers a question that includes your brand, you might not see any clicks — but you’ve successfully generated awareness that could convert later that day, week, or month.

The metrics that matter most now are AI search visibility and branded search (awareness), as well as conversion rate, pipeline quality, and revenue. LLM-referred traffic converts around 3x better than traditional search for HubSpot.

With long-form ‘ultimate guides’ now struggling to compete with AI answers, how should teams be pivoting their content strategies to remain competitive?

Start writing for AI search. If an LLM answers the question “What is a CRM” and cites your CRM in the response — because you’ve structured your content in an AI-friendly way, included original data, etc. — you will still ultimately reach the buyer.

Additionally, HubSpot diversified where we showed up, including YouTube, newsletters, and podcasts. Not only do humans still spend a lot of time here, but LLMs train and cite from these sources. Today, 90% of HubSpot’s leads come from non-blog sources, with YouTube leads up 100% and newsletter leads up 90%.

What other things should brands be doing to optimize their websites for conversational AI questions?

Your content needs to answer conversational queries directly and authoritatively.

Think about how your buyers will ask questions to an answer engine, not how they’d type keywords into Google. Your content needs to answer conversational queries directly and authoritatively.

Using unique data, structuring your content so it’s easy to understand, and being cited in the places LLMs pull from will increase your visibility. You should also track your AI visibility systematically – you need to know how your products are described, which businesses are showing up instead of you, and whether your share of voice is improving over time.

Can brands leverage legacy content for AEO? If so, how?

Legacy content written to rank on Google usually doesn’t explicitly connect the topic to your product or service.

Yes, but it needs to be updated with intent. Legacy content written to rank on Google usually doesn’t explicitly connect the topic to your product or service. Update content with these connections so AI will make them for the user.

For example, if you have a blog post on running good sales calls, you’d add contextual lines like, “HubSpot’s Smart CRM includes real-time call insights, so you can course-correct while you’re still on the phone with a prospect.”

Is SEO still important? If so, what are some good strategies small businesses can use to balance search engine and AI optimization?

SEO is still important for a few reasons.

Google’s AI search (AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini) pull information from Google results. In addition, once buyers have discovered you in AI search, they’ll often use Google to navigate to your website.

HubSpot claims that its AEO playbook helped achieve an 1850% increase in qualified leads and a 3x higher conversion rate. What were the three main driving factors behind these wins? How can entrepreneurs and marketers apply them to their own businesses?

You should start by measuring where you show up in AI answers, then systematically close the gaps.

Our strategy had three pillars.

First, on-site content built for AI. We created industry-specific pages with structured data, unique insights, and FAQ schema. 92% of those pages ended up cited by answer engines, generating a 49% lift in AI visibility. We also launched a glossary covering top-of-funnel terms (with explicit links to relevant products), which increased citation share for related prompts by 60%.

Second, off-site amplification. We identified publishers already winning citations but not yet mentioning HubSpot, gave them AEO recommendations and templates, and scaled to hundreds of new pages, earning hundreds of thousands of new AI citations.

Third, Reddit. We invested heavily in our Reddit strategy, as it was one of the most cited sources for questions our buyers are asking.

Any business can apply these tactics. You should start by measuring where you show up in AI answers, then systematically close the gaps.

For over a decade, driving profit from your website was relatively simple. Find the right keywords, optimize your site to rank for them, then convert as many visitors as you can.

But as AI overviews and conversational answer engines continue to replace search engines, traditional clicks from SERPs are rapidly dropping.

Fortunately, this shift isn't a death sentence for websites; in fact, it could be a big opportunity.

I caught up with Aja Frost, Senior Director of Global Growth and Paid at HubSpot, to get some insight into how HubSpot has reshaped its marketing strategy, helping it achieve a massive 1,850% increase in qualified leads from AI and a 3x higher conversion rate compared to traditional search.

With organic sessions and clicks sharply dropping for many websites, how can marketers continue to prove ROI? What are the new baseline metrics businesses should be measuring?

Traffic volume is no longer the right North Star metric. When AI answers a question that includes your brand, you might not see any clicks — but you’ve successfully generated awareness that could convert later that day, week, or month.

The metrics that matter most now are AI search visibility and branded search (awareness), as well as conversion rate, pipeline quality, and revenue. LLM-referred traffic converts around 3x better than traditional search for HubSpot.

With long-form ‘ultimate guides’ now struggling to compete with AI answers, how should teams be pivoting their content strategies to remain competitive?

Start writing for AI search. If an LLM answers the question “What is a CRM” and cites your CRM in the response — because you’ve structured your content in an AI-friendly way, included original data, etc. — you will still ultimately reach the buyer.

Additionally, HubSpot diversified where we showed up, including YouTube, newsletters, and podcasts. Not only do humans still spend a lot of time here, but LLMs train and cite from these sources. Today, 90% of HubSpot’s leads come from non-blog sources, with YouTube leads up 100% and newsletter leads up 90%.

What other things should brands be doing to optimize their websites for conversational AI questions?

Your content needs to answer conversational queries directly and authoritatively.

Think about how your buyers will ask questions to an answer engine, not how they’d type keywords into Google. Your content needs to answer conversational queries directly and authoritatively.

Using unique data, structuring your content so it’s easy to understand, and being cited in the places LLMs pull from will increase your visibility. You should also track your AI visibility systematically – you need to know how your products are described, which businesses are showing up instead of you, and whether your share of voice is improving over time.

Can brands leverage legacy content for AEO? If so, how?

Legacy content written to rank on Google usually doesn’t explicitly connect the topic to your product or service.

Yes, but it needs to be updated with intent. Legacy content written to rank on Google usually doesn’t explicitly connect the topic to your product or service. Update content with these connections so AI will make them for the user.

For example, if you have a blog post on running good sales calls, you’d add contextual lines like, “HubSpot’s Smart CRM includes real-time call insights, so you can course-correct while you’re still on the phone with a prospect.”

Is SEO still important? If so, what are some good strategies small businesses can use to balance search engine and AI optimization?

SEO is still important for a few reasons.

Google’s AI search (AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini) pull information from Google results. In addition, once buyers have discovered you in AI search, they’ll often use Google to navigate to your website.

HubSpot claims that its AEO playbook helped achieve an 1850% increase in qualified leads and a 3x higher conversion rate. What were the three main driving factors behind these wins? How can entrepreneurs and marketers apply them to their own businesses?

You should start by measuring where you show up in AI answers, then systematically close the gaps.

Our strategy had three pillars.

First, on-site content built for AI. We created industry-specific pages with structured data, unique insights, and FAQ schema. 92% of those pages ended up cited by answer engines, generating a 49% lift in AI visibility. We also launched a glossary covering top-of-funnel terms (with explicit links to relevant products), which increased citation share for related prompts by 60%.

Second, off-site amplification. We identified publishers already winning citations but not yet mentioning HubSpot, gave them AEO recommendations and templates, and scaled to hundreds of new pages, earning hundreds of thousands of new AI citations.

Third, Reddit. We invested heavily in our Reddit strategy, as it was one of the most cited sources for questions our buyers are asking.

Any business can apply these tactics. You should start by measuring where you show up in AI answers, then systematically close the gaps.

• Obsession star Inde Navarrette recently met with the director of Marvel's new X-Men film
• It's the only movie that Jake Schreier has publicly confirmed he's working on
• Some fans really don't want to see the award-worthy actor join the MCU

Inde Navarrette has revealed she's open to the possibility of starring in a Marvel movie — and rumors are now circulating online that she could appear in the comic giant's new X-Men film.

The breakout star of 2026 smash hit Obsession, Navarrette was recently asked by Nylon magazine if she'd like to show up in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick. "I would," was the in-demand and award-worthy actor's brief reply.

Interestingly, Navarrette's possible involvement in Marvel's cinematic juggernaut might soon become a reality. Indeed, in the same interview, Navarrette confirmed she'd recently met with Jake Schreier, the director of the Marvel Phase 5 film Thunderbolts.

Currently, the only project Schreier has publicly acknowledged he's working on is the aforementioned X-Men movie. It'll come as no surprise to learn, then, that a rumor regarding Navarrette's potential casting in said film franchise reboot is already spreading like wildfire across the web.

Why some film fans don't want Navarrette to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Some fans would be unhappy to see Navarrette join the MCU (Image credit: Focus Features/Universal Pictures)

It would be remiss of me not to point out that Navarrette joining the MCU is merely speculation at this point. There are bound to be other projects that Schreier is developing in secret, such as a third season of Netflix's critically acclaimed and award-winning albeit underseen comedy-drama Beef. So, the filmmaker could've sounded out Navarrette for a role in that show rather than a role in his untitled X-Men flick.

Nonetheless, some fans of Navarrette's works, which include this year's box office belle in Focus Features' Obssession, are dead-set against seeing the 25-year-old become the next big-name actor or rising star to sell their soul to the MCU.

On X/Twitter, bigmonkeong likened her rumored casting as part of the "MCU slop machine" to "seeing an angel get its wings cut off". Elsewhere, The_Epic_Mike accused Marvel of "trying to clout chase an indie horror film and nose-dive another actress' career", while tarmactorque suggested Navarrette should prioritize a role in a forthcoming film from Michael Mann, who she also recently met with. Mann's next project is the highly-anticipated Heat 2, so could Navarrette be set to appear opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale, who officially boarded the prequel-sequel earlier in July?

On the flip side, other cinephiles have already started fan-casting Navarrette in the MCU and, more specifically, in its first X-Men production. Chief among the characters some want her to play are fan-favorite individuals Rogue, X-23, and Mystique, but others are dreaming of seeing her play Magik or Kitty Pryde.

Who would you like to see Navarrette play in the MCU? Let me know by voting in the poll above. Once you're done, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order and how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

And, if you're one of the few remaining people yet to see Obsession, which is still in theaters, you'll be pleased to know that Obsession is also now available to watch at home.

• Obsession star Inde Navarrette recently met with the director of Marvel's new X-Men film
• It's the only movie that Jake Schreier has publicly confirmed he's working on
• Some fans really don't want to see the award-worthy actor join the MCU

Inde Navarrette has revealed she's open to the possibility of starring in a Marvel movie — and rumors are now circulating online that she could appear in the comic giant's new X-Men film.

The breakout star of 2026 smash hit Obsession, Navarrette was recently asked by Nylon magazine if she'd like to show up in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick. "I would," was the in-demand and award-worthy actor's brief reply.

Interestingly, Navarrette's possible involvement in Marvel's cinematic juggernaut might soon become a reality. Indeed, in the same interview, Navarrette confirmed she'd recently met with Jake Schreier, the director of the Marvel Phase 5 film Thunderbolts.

Currently, the only project Schreier has publicly acknowledged he's working on is the aforementioned X-Men movie. It'll come as no surprise to learn, then, that a rumor regarding Navarrette's potential casting in said film franchise reboot is already spreading like wildfire across the web.

Why some film fans don't want Navarrette to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Some fans would be unhappy to see Navarrette join the MCU (Image credit: Focus Features/Universal Pictures)

It would be remiss of me not to point out that Navarrette joining the MCU is merely speculation at this point. There are bound to be other projects that Schreier is developing in secret, such as a third season of Netflix's critically acclaimed and award-winning albeit underseen comedy-drama Beef. So, the filmmaker could've sounded out Navarrette for a role in that show rather than a role in his untitled X-Men flick.

Nonetheless, some fans of Navarrette's works, which include this year's box office belle in Focus Features' Obssession, are dead-set against seeing the 25-year-old become the next big-name actor or rising star to sell their soul to the MCU.

On X/Twitter, bigmonkeong likened her rumored casting as part of the "MCU slop machine" to "seeing an angel get its wings cut off". Elsewhere, The_Epic_Mike accused Marvel of "trying to clout chase an indie horror film and nose-dive another actress' career", while tarmactorque suggested Navarrette should prioritize a role in a forthcoming film from Michael Mann, who she also recently met with. Mann's next project is the highly-anticipated Heat 2, so could Navarrette be set to appear opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale, who officially boarded the prequel-sequel earlier in July?

On the flip side, other cinephiles have already started fan-casting Navarrette in the MCU and, more specifically, in its first X-Men production. Chief among the characters some want her to play are fan-favorite individuals Rogue, X-23, and Mystique, but others are dreaming of seeing her play Magik or Kitty Pryde.

Who would you like to see Navarrette play in the MCU? Let me know by voting in the poll above. Once you're done, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order and how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

And, if you're one of the few remaining people yet to see Obsession, which is still in theaters, you'll be pleased to know that Obsession is also now available to watch at home.

Spoilers for Dutton Ranch episode 9 ahead.

From the jump, it was clear that the eventual finale of Dutton Ranch — episode 9 — would be an absolutely chaotic mind-melter. While I'm happy to report that my assumptions were right, there were some unanswered questions that I didn't expect at all.

For the most part, the Yellowstone spinoff has left us with multiple dilemmas following the ranch raid. The most pressing is whether Carter(Finn Little) will survive his kidnapping, and whether Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) can get to him before anything bad happens.

Then we'll have the fallout of Rob-Will's (Jai Courtney) death, which will definitely have messed with Joaquin's (Juan Pablo Raba) mind. This is also going to affect Mariano's (Raoul Max Trujillo) standing in the 10 Petal business, arguably likely to see even more power than he had before.

Beulah (Annette Bening), meanwhile, has absolutely nothing to her name. She needs to grieve Rob-Will, but Everett (Ed Harris) wants nothing to do with her, so her next moves cannot be immediately guessed.

Then, there's Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind). Will she keep the baby? Will Beth be there to support her? And will Rio Paloma ever be the same again?

Amazingly, none of these issues are what fans are the most perplexed by... and if you've been keeping a close eye on the show's first-look images, you might have noticed that something is missing.

Dutton Ranch season 1 completely cut out Beth bonding with her horses — despite advertising it

(Image credit: Paramount)

Recognize the above image? Despite it being a key part of Dutton Ranch's initial advertising campaign, the scene itself never materialised.

It's this that fans are hung up on, rather than anything that actually transpired in the explosive season finale.

"It makes me so mad they cut this scene of Beth and her horse from the season finale," one fan posted on Reddit. "This photo was released as an episode still on the Paramount+ press website. I’ve been looking forward to this scene. I can’t believe they cut it, but left in the teen angst. Beth and her horse have more chemistry than Carter and Oreana."

A second added, "I was so annoyed this scene was cut! It looks so sweet. It really does seem like so many tender scenes were cut this season, which is so disappointing.

"I loved this storyline and hope we get to see more of Beth with her horse in season 2. I’d also like to know what she named her."

According to the show notes, the still should have come from the season finale, but was cut. Some fans are speculating that the change is linked to the exit of showrunner Chad Feehan, who announced his departure from Dutton Ranch three weeks before it aired.

"With 6, 7 and 8 being such short runtime episodes, it begs to wonder how much footage — that potentially could have elevated those episodes as they were not the strongest of the season — ended up on the cutting room floor?" a third fan speculated.

As of writing, we don't yet know when Dutton Ranch season 2 will air, enter production, or who will take over as its showrunner. For now, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed for some more equine action.

• Merlin Bird ID is a go-to app for bird identification, with more than 40 million downloads
• It can identify over 2,000 species of birds by sound recognition
• A future update will share sound recordings with eBird, a huge biodiversity database

If you're into birdwatching, you'll need no introduction to the popular Merlin Bird ID app, by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With over 40 million downloads worldwide, and over two million monthly users in the UK alone, Merlin is the go-to app for bird identification for many.

I'm in my forties, and birding has become one of my recent new hobbies, after years of photographing birds while testing cameras and lenses. And while I'm learning, I simply can't identify all the birds I see or hear, especially in my local nature reserve, which is a migration route for varied and sometimes rare birdlife throughout the year, and a popular birding spot.

The app helps me to identify the birds I'm unfamiliar with by their call / song, using machine learning sound recognition, and gives me lightning-fast and almost always reliable results, with an image for each identified bird. It's super helpful.

I can also feed the app one of my photos for identification, such as those taken during a recent outing with the Sony 400-800mm lens, with the results based on location data and other information from a database of more than 2,000 bird species.

So I was delighted to hear that the app — which is free for iOS and Android, with downloadable offline bird packs by location including US, Canada and Europe — is getting an update which will help users like me give something back: integration with Cornell's own eBird database, as reported by the Guardian.

Me during a recent visit to my local birding site, which hosts a wide variety of birdlife throughout the year (Image credit: Tim Coleman)A new wave of citizen scientists

eBird is a huge citizen-science biodiversity database, with over two billion recordings logged worldwide since its 2002 launch. And it's set for an influx of new data — the Merlin Bird ID app update will in future allow bird identifications to automatically flow directly into the eBird database.

Jessie Barry, of the Merlin project, told the Guardian, "Upcoming feature developments will make an even better link to the eBird systems so that we can use the data from what users ‘hear’ with Merlin to monitor bird populations."

Bird conservation is a hot topic, what with bird numbers declining. The UK, for example, has 70 million fewer birds than it did 50 years ago. So here's the good part: these records could provide vital information to conversation efforts for at-risk birdlife around the world.

Barry added: “This data helps create tools that can be used to further conservation, inspire support and inform ecological management strategies.”

Notwithstanding the cautionary note of the app's outright accuracy, with concern from some about it occasionally misidentifying birds, the Merlin Bird ID app update could be a huge boost for bird conservation efforts.

Being directly connected to the go-to bird identification app, eBird stands to receive more data from millions of users, who don't need to make any special effort to take part; they just need to carry on using the app as before to record and identify birdsong.

I love the idea that I will be one of a new wave of citizen scientists across the world, with the recordings I make playing a small part in monitoring bird populations. And the surge in recording data will likely further improve the app's performance.

Right, I'm off out with my phone, I hear the birds calling...

• Pearl Abyss adds new content to Crimson Desert via update 1.13
• The update adds new outfits, gear, and equipment for all three playable characters
• Oongka can now use the same outfits Kliff does

Pearl Abyss has gone above and beyond with Crimson Desert, thanks to a vast amount of content available at launch and consistent updates in recent months — and it's not taking its foot off the gas.

Crimson Desert has a new batch of content, with update 1.13 introducing new gear and outfits for all three playable characters, Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane, including expanded 'dyeable equipment options'. Also, both Oongka and Damiane will now be able to enter the Abyss and rematch bosses initially made for Kliff.

It's yet another substantial update for 2026's beloved hit, as the developers at the South Korean studio continue to listen to fan feedback and fine-tune areas that could do with more content.

Frankly, the game's continent, Pywel, is chock-full of activities to engage in, gear to find, and bosses to encounter, but one aspect has arguably been neglected since launch.

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)

Both Oongka and Damiane are characters that feel as though they've received the short end of the stick in terms of outfits and equipment — and fortunately, that's what this update addresses.

Notably, Oongka can now equip 'most outfits available to Kliff', further expanding the secondary character's customization options. It's a change I've been longing for, since it should provide far more incentive for me to use Oongka, particularly for replaying boss battles while being aptly equipped.

Even with my 236 hours spent playing Crimson Desert, it still feels like there's so much more to discover, especially with Pearl Abyss consistently improving the experience — and it's worth noting that an expansion is already in development.

It's also quite fascinating to see that four months after its launch, Crimson Desert has a 24-hour peak of 26,659 players on Steam, which is incredibly rare (or at the very least, difficult) for any single-player game to sustain post-launch. Hopefully, it stays that way, as I feel that Pearl Abyss deserves all the success and praise for its efforts on Crimson Desert.

Staying anonymous these days on the internet may seem impossible, given that you’ll have to sign up for one online service or another. It gets worse when some services demand personal information like phone numbers and email addresses, which could be leaked on the web. The infamous people-finder sites curate this public information and let people access it for a fee, posing privacy risks.

The good thing is that you can remove your personal information from people-finder platforms. Data removal services, like OneRep, scan numerous people-finder sites for your data, then send deletion requests wherever your data is found. This service helps protect your privacy on the web.

OneRep is one of many data removal services, and I’ve reviewed it to help you decide if it’s an ideal choice. After extensive testing, I’m diving into its key features, pricing, pros, cons, and other important information to know about it.

• How we test, review and rate on TechRadar

OneRep: Plans and pricing

OneRep offers tiered plans: a standard plan and a Pro plan. The core difference is the number of data broker (people-finder) sites covered by each plan. The standard plan scans for your data on 319 public data broker sites, while the Pro plan covers 319 public data broker sites and an additional 559 non-public ones. The Pro plan also provides unlimited custom removal requests, while the standard plan doesn’t.

For the standard plan, you can choose the Individual tier for one person or the Family tier covering six users. The Individual tier costs $15 per month, while the Family tier costs $28 per month. If you pay annually, you’ll get a 47% discount compared to paying month-to-month, bringing the monthly price for the Individual tier down to $8.33, and the Family tier down to $15 per month.

The Pro plan also has Individual and Family tiers. The Individual Pro plan costs $30 per month, while the Family Pro tier (covering six users) costs $56 per month (the 47% annual discount also applies, with pricing reduced to $15.95 and $29.95 per month respectively). As mentioned, the Pro plan covers 316 public data-broker sites and 559 non-public ones that people often don’t see. It also provides access to a dedicated privacy expert, who can send carefully written data deletion requests when automated requests don’t suffice.

OneRep doesn’t offer a free plan, but a 5-day free trial is available for all its paid plans. You can use this free trial period to test the features before making your decision. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee after payment.

(Image credit: OneRep)OneRep: Setup

Setting up OneRep is a straightforward journey. Head to the website, select a plan, and proceed to the checkout page. OneRep requires payment details to begin its 5-day free trial, which I consider a bit of a drawback, but this is common with data removal sites. The good thing is that you can cancel the plan within 5 days, and your card won’t be charged. Even if you pay, there’s a 30-day window to request a full refund.

OneRep doesn’t have a free plan, but it does offer a freebie. On the homepage, you can enter your name and city, and OneRep will scan 316 public data-broker sites for your information.

(Image credit: OneRep )

You’ll need to sign up to access the full report, which states how many data-broker sites your personal information was found on.

(Image credit: OneRep )

The free scan is the hook OneRep uses to incentivize people to use its data removal services. You can get a detailed report for free, but you’ll need a paid plan for OneRep to send deletion requests on your behalf.

OneRep usually first sends automated deletion requests to sites where your personal data is discovered. If the automated requests don’t work, OneRep’s team drafts legal deletion requests and sends them manually on your behalf.

We’ve mentioned that OneRep covers 316 public data-broker sites on the standard plan and an additional 559 non-public sites on the Pro plan, but there’s more to it. For Pro subscribers, if you find your personal information on a people-finder site not usually covered by OneRep, you can share the link on your dashboard, and a dedicated OneRep expert can draft a custom deletion request for that site. There’s no guarantee that the request will be successful, but it works in many cases.

I like that OneRep doesn’t just offer data-removal services. It also offers a data breach monitoring service, which helps you identify if your email was affected in a known data breach. In my case, I surprisingly discovered that my email address was affected in four data breaches:

(Image credit: OneRep )

With this discovery, the right step to take was to change the passwords affected in the data breaches. I changed the passwords on both the affected websites and any other websites where I used the same passwords. This way, someone can’t use my breached password to gain unauthorized access to my accounts. As a preventive measure, I always activate two-factor authentication for my accounts, ensuring that people can’t gain access even if they somehow have the right username and password.

OneRep: Ease of use

I found OneRep very easy to use, and I don’t say this lightly. I’ve tested some data removal services that took a long time to get familiar with, but that wasn’t the case with OneRep. From signing up to accessing reports and monitoring deletion requests on my dashboard, everything felt simple.

You can access OneRep from your web browser on a PC or smartphone. There’s no native smartphone app, so a PC provides the best user experience.

OneRep: Security and privacy

OneRep contributes a lot to your online security and privacy. It scrubs your personal information (e.g., names, home addresses, and phone numbers) from people-finder sites and alerts you about data breaches where your email address was affected. The Family plan provides security coverage for both you and five other people.

OneRep doesn’t offer many complementary security features like some rivals. Apart from data removal, data breach monitoring is its core complementary feature, unlike some rivals that also offer a VPN, spam call blocking, identity theft protection, and more. However, OneRep is effective in its core duty of scrubbing and removing personal data from people-finder sites.

OneRep: Support

Users who need help can first visit OneRep’s official support page. On this page, they’ll find detailed answers to frequently asked questions and general guides about OneRep features. This support page proved valuable for me as a first-time user.

If the support page is insufficient, you can contact OneRep via email or telephone. Email tickets get responses within 24 hours, and telephone calls receive instant responses, but are restricted to working hours.

OneRep: Competition

Cloaked is the main OneRep competitor I’d like to highlight. I’ve tested both platforms extensively enough to provide a fair comparison.

Compared to OneRep, Cloaked offers a broader suite of complementary security services, including a VPN, dark web monitoring, and robocall blocking. However, for personal data removal, Cloaked has less coverage than OneRep’s 800+ sites (316 public sites and 559 non-public sites).

I think OneRep is better than Cloaked for core data removal, but Cloaked is better as an all-in-one online security suite.

OneRep: Final verdict

Overall, I’ll recommend OneRep to anyone seeking a reliable data removal platform. You won’t get much outside data removal, but it’s highly effective for this core task. OneRep is a reliable companion that helps protect your privacy online.