The unintended consequences of remote work

It's Tuesday, readers. I'm Paayal Zaveri, a senior reporter for Insider's tech analysis team, filling in for my colleague Diamond Naga Siu.

Yesterday marked three years since the US government declared a national emergency around the COVID-19 outbreak. To say time flies is an understatement — our lives have changed so much over the last three years.

Take, for example, remote work.

While remote work offers flexibility, it often comes at the cost of maintaining a work-life balance. Don't fret, though. There are solutions underway.

I found this essay from a remote-work coach, where she shares her tips for avoiding burnout as a remote worker, particularly helpful. Architects are now even designing homes to help remote workers find a work-life balance, Insider's Stephanie Stacey reports.

Remote work has also made it possible to hire anyone anywhere, which CEOs and hiring managers are starting to realize. That's exactly what I took a look at in our first story today.

Let's get started.

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1. American tech companies are offshoring jobs, but it isn't all because of remote work. In fact, remote work has just been a facilitator. The real culprit behind this trend is likely America's broken immigration system.

• Experts told me America's tech industry has moved many jobs offshore to countries including India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia in the last few years.
• As it becomes harder to bring tech talent into the US, companies are hiring in other countries, and opening branch offices there, staffing them with people who might otherwise have come to the US to work, the experts say.
• So while offshoring jobs to countries where workers command lower wages is nothing new for American businesses, it seems like that's just part of the story.
• With the difficult immigration processes in the US and the popularity of remote work, we can expect more companies to continue offshoring jobs and hiring overseas, experts told me.

Read more about what's driving US tech companies to hire overseas here.

In other news:

2. This is AI's make-or-break moment. Tools like ChatGPT are barely scratching the surface of AI's potential. We could see it fundamentally reshape our economy and lives, but we need to make sure it's safe, Insider's Hasan Chowdhury reports. Dive into the debate over AI here.

3. Startup founders are reeling from the Silicon Valley Bank implosion. Founders are rushing to find a new home for their money. They're going everywhere from big banks like JPMorgan to neobanks like Brex. Here's why the fallout will change how startups store cash.

4. More CEOs weigh in on the "fake work" debate. As big tech firms like Google and Meta are accused of hiring people to do "fake work," tech leaders are debating what constitutes real work. The CEO of C3.ai, Thomas Siebel, chimed in. He says remote work led to all of this in the first place.

5. Why the SVB crisis will change the banking industry forever. Unlike other bank runs, SVB's collapse was the first in history to be quickly escalated through social media. According to one former federal regulator: "The whole system needs to be looked at differently." The full story.

6. Google employees test a smarter chatbot. Many Google employees have gotten the chance to test out "Big Bard," a superior version of its Bard chatbot. A version of Bard will ultimately take on OpenAI's ChatGPT. Here's why Google wants to launch a limited version of Bard first.

7. The next step for OpenAI: turning text into video. A Microsoft exec said OpenAI's new model will be released this week, and GPT-4 will be able to turn text into video. Of note: that is already something that Google and Meta AI can each do. Read more about the upcoming release.

8. TikTok creators love the new paywall feature. TikTok is testing new ways for creators to make money on the app, after some said they haven't earned as much as other platforms. Specifically, it's a new feature that allows creators to charge users for specific videos. Here's how some are approaching it.

Odds and ends:

9. A Tesla SUV gave supercars from Ferrari and Lamborghini a run for their money. A Tesla Model X raced against a Ferrari and Lamborghini in a recent YouTube video from online car-buying marketplace CarWow. The results were too close to call.

10. SVB merch up for sale. After Silicon Valley Bank's collapse on Friday, items featuring the Silicon Valley Bank logo were put up for auction on eBay over the weekend. Some of the items included a cardboard box for $201 and a wine tumbler for $42. Here's what else was listed.

What we're watching today:

• The South by Southwest (SXSW) tech, music, and culture festival continues in Austin, Texas all week. Follow Insider's dispatches from the event here.

Curated by Paayal Zaveri in San Francisco. Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.