Ashley Couto

Verified

(She/Her)

Journalist, Freelance

Montreal

Arts and Entertainment, Beauty, Business and Finance, Health, Travel

As seen in: Medium, MSN, MSN Canada, Yahoo Entertainment, Yahoo Life, Business Insider, Forbes, Forbes Advisor Canada, HuffPost, MSN Deutschland and

Covers: travel, disability, LGBTQ+, entrepreneurship, careers, marketing, relationships, startups, creator economy

Doesn't Cover: NFTs, ecomm, blockchain, web3, fitness, politics

Get in touch with Ashley

Contact Ashley, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Ashley Couto’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

Ashley Couto is an award-winning writer and freelance journalist based in Montreal, Quebec. She is an Inc. Startup Columnist where she writes about startups, small business, and the creator economy. Ashley also covers travel, LGBTQ+, disability, and entrepreneurship. Ashley has bylines in VICE, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Well+Good, Observer, Travel+Leisure, etc.

When she's not writing, Ashley is a senior tech leader. She is an alumnus of Concordia University, where she earned a BFA with D…

Ashley Couto’s Journalist Portfolio

See all 7 portfolio items →

Why the Global AI Data Center Race Is Heading to Brazil

ByteDance is pouring $39 billion into a single Brazilian data center. The AI infrastructure race is moving so…

View article →

The Head of Claude Code Says Your Startup Needs These 5 Employee Archetypes

Job titles like 'engineer' and 'designer' are melting into something new. Here's how to build your hiring pla…

View article →

Dua Lipa Just Opened a Banned Books Library. Founders Should Study How She Did It

The pop star's new Manifesto Library in Porto is a lesson in how founders can expand into new territory and w…

View article →

The $250 Billion Creator Economy Has a Management Problem-and MrBeast and Alex Cooper Just Proved...

Many successful creators have no prior leadership experience. Here's how to fix that.

View article →

What to do if you catch your employee on a quiet vacation, according to an HR exec

FairComp CEO Nolan Church says employees taking "quiet vacations" is a sign of bad managers and shares what t…

View article →

How to Enjoy an Accessible Costa Rican Adventure - From Hotels and Tour Operators to Transportati...

This guide sheds light on some of the best that Costa Rica has to offer in accessible travel, including where…

View article →

Articles

Why Google DeepMind’s CEO Just Begged the Government to Regulate AI (and What It Means for Your Startup)

Jul 15, 2026 |

By Ashley Couto

| Inc.

Demis Hassabis says AI needs a FINRA-style referee before more powerful models arrive. For founders building on top of that technology, the fine print matters more than the headline. Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO and Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis just asked the U.S. government to regulate his own industry in a new essay posted across his social networks and Substack. In it, he calls for a new U.S. oversight body built to test the most powerful AI models before they reach the public.

Open in Who Shared

Giada De Laurentiis' Favorite Food Destinations Are Giving Us Wanderlust

Jul 10, 2026 |

By Ashley Couto

| Yahoo Life

For many, Giada De Laurentiis epitomizes the exquisite blend of travel and tantalizing cuisine, effortlessly taking her audience on globetrotting adventures with a culinary twist. Her storied entry into the world of the Food Network began with "Giada's Weekend Getaways," a captivating show where, over a single three-day weekend, she would whisk viewers away to some of the most renowned culinary destinations in the United States.

Open in Who Shared

CoverGirl Chased Gen-Z for a Decade and Failed. Here’s the Expensive Lesson It Just Learned

Jul 10, 2026 |

By Ashley Couto

| Inc.

CoverGirl couldn’t credibly serve Gen-Z, and it’s a warning for any founder trying to win a customer their brand hasn’t earned. A decade ago, CoverGirl signed Zendaya at 19 and Taylor Swift at 20 to sell drugstore makeup to teenagers. It didn’t work. After years of unsuccessfully trying to make CoverGirl a youthful brand, the drugstore staple is pivoting to the women who grew up with it: Gen-X.

Open in Who Shared

See all 234 licensed articles (243 Total)

Interview

See all 9 answers →

Have you ever used a typewriter?

When I was young, yes.

What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?

I'm not on Twitter... X enough for that.

Who do you wish followed you?

Florence Pugh. I'm waiting for the day when I get to interview her and we become best friends.