Saturday, January 21, 2023

A look at Amazon's fledgling drone delivery unit, which has struggled due to safety concerns and now faces layoffs and other cost-cutting measures (Annie Palmer/CNBC)

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
A look at Amazon's fledgling drone delivery unit, which has struggled due to safety concerns and now faces layoffs and other cost-cutting measures  —  - As part of Amazon's widespread layoffs, some employees in the nascent drone delivery project are losing their jobs, according to people familiar with the matter.



Filings: Signature Bank borrowed $10B in Q4 from Federal Home Loan Banks, the system originally designed to support mortgage lending; Silvergate borrowed $3.6B (Eric Wallerstein/Wall Street Journal)

Eric Wallerstein / Wall Street Journal:
Filings: Signature Bank borrowed $10B in Q4 from Federal Home Loan Banks, the system originally designed to support mortgage lending; Silvergate borrowed $3.6B  —  Signature and Silvergate turn to government-chartered lenders after customer withdrawals surge



How Apple's lean hiring may help it avoid layoffs; Apple's workforce grew 20% from 2019 to 2022, Amazon's grew 100%, Meta 94%, Alphabet 57%, Microsoft 53% (Aaron Tilley/Wall Street Journal)

Aaron Tilley / Wall Street Journal:
How Apple's lean hiring may help it avoid layoffs; Apple's workforce grew 20% from 2019 to 2022, Amazon's grew 100%, Meta 94%, Alphabet 57%, Microsoft 53%  —  The iPhone maker's workforce grew 20% in the past three years, a far slower pace than rivals  —  Tech Layoffs Pile Up as Bosses Reverse Course



Current and ex-Amazon managers and execs say focus on managing costs should have come sooner, ideas aren't evaluated with the same rigor as before, and more (Jason Del Rey/Vox)

Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Current and ex-Amazon managers and execs say focus on managing costs should have come sooner, ideas aren't evaluated with the same rigor as before, and more  —  After the largest corporate layoffs in its history, the tech giant is at a crossroads.  —  For years, it seemed as though nothing …



Tech companies like Google and Microsoft have offered a muted response to unrest in Iran, prompting side projects by employees to fight censorship and more (Paresh Dave/Wired)

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Tech companies like Google and Microsoft have offered a muted response to unrest in Iran, prompting side projects by employees to fight censorship and more  —  Companies like Google have offered a muted response to unrest in Iran.  Grassroots coders are tackling internet censorship on their own.



Google may introduce ChatGPT competitor in May

Tech giant Google is preparing to introduce at least 20 artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools and a search chatbot during its annual developer conference in May this year, amid pressure from OpenAI's ChatGPT, the media reported. https://ift.tt/IxnDi4L

Friday, January 20, 2023

Experts argue the TikTok ban by over two dozen US states is a reflection of government groupthink and an overreaction to an app officials don't fully understand (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Experts argue the TikTok ban by over two dozen US states is a reflection of government groupthink and an overreaction to an app officials don't fully understand  —  More than two dozen states have banned the lighthearted video app, citing fears of ‘Chinese infiltration.’ But some experts call …



A survey of 2,300+ game developers: 45% don't buy the promise of the metaverse, 53% support unionization, 91% say harassment by players is an issue, and more (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
A survey of 2,300+ game developers: 45% don't buy the promise of the metaverse, 53% support unionization, 91% say harassment by players is an issue, and more  —  Game developers are more skeptical of metaverse and blockchain projects, according to a new survey by the Game Developers Conference.



Google to lay off 12000: Read CEO Sundar Pichai's email

Google is set to cut 12,000 jobs. The company's CEO Sundar Pichai shared the "difficult news" in an email to employees. The job cuts will impact the company's operations globally. Many of the affected employees in the US will get the email today. The letter also mentions the severance that the affected Google employees in the US will be getting. For others, the letter says that it will be "in line with local practices". Here's the full text of the email sent by Pichai. https://ift.tt/y2n143k

Sources: Google executives met with Larry Page and Sergey Brin last month to discuss Google's AI efforts, as the company seeks to combat OpenAI's ChatGPT (Nico Grant/New York Times)

Nico Grant / New York Times:
Sources: Google executives met with Larry Page and Sergey Brin last month to discuss Google's AI efforts, as the company seeks to combat OpenAI's ChatGPT  —  A rival chatbot has shaken Google out of its routine, with the founders who left three years ago re-engaging and more than 20 A.I. projects in the works.



Sources: Wayfair plans to lay off over 1,000 employees, or 5%+ of its staff, due to shrinking sales; the online furniture seller cut ~870 jobs in August 2022 (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Wayfair plans to lay off over 1,000 employees, or 5%+ of its staff, due to shrinking sales; the online furniture seller cut ~870 jobs in August 2022  —  Online furniture retailer has struggled with shrinking sales  —  Tech Layoffs Pile Up as Bosses Reverse Course  —  Created with sketchtool.



Autonomous vehicles in China face legal and financial issues, including different rules set by local governments, less funding, and uncertain profit prospects (Nikkei Asia)

Nikkei Asia:
Autonomous vehicles in China face legal and financial issues, including different rules set by local governments, less funding, and uncertain profit prospects  —  WeRide and Pony.ai turn to selling systems for short-term profits  —  GUANGZHOU/TOKYO — China's efforts to get more nearly autonomous vehicles …



What to expect in 2025: increased hype around AI agents, new generative AI-powered gadgets, better weather forecasts due to Google DeepMind's GenCast, and more (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal : What to expect in 2025: increased hype around AI agents, new generative AI-powered gadgets, better weather forecast...