Digital illustration of technology in space: Earth, satellites, James Webb Telescope, VR headsets, 5G, and streaming logos.

There have been breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, with American companies, universities, and research labs pioneering advances in the field.[8] Generative AI-based applications, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, allow users to instantly generate sophisticated texts, images, art, and video. Other technological advances include the widespread use of teleconferencing, online learning, e-commerce and food delivery services to compensate for lockdowns ordered by governments around the world during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Streaming services, such as Disney+ and HBO Max, have increased in popularity during the decade, with cable television continuing to fall out of usage. Several popular social media applications launched, such as Threads, BeReal, Clubhouse, Bluesky, Gettr, and Truth Social, continuing advances in digital technology. 5G networks launched around the globe at the start of the decade and became prevalent in smartphones. Research into outer space further evolved, with the United States mainly leading space exploration, including with the James Webb Space Telescope, Ingenuity helicopter, and Artemis program.[9][10] Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are being used for remote collaboration, meetings, and training. Contactless payments, including mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, have grown in popularity. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and NFTs, have also increased in popularity. See more