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☆ Women Who Work in Utah's Silicon Slopes Share Its Dark Side
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

During an interview for an engineering job at a Utah tech company, Trina Limpert was told she was a "risky hire." Insider spoke to 22 women who previously or currently work at Utah tech companies told Insider. Silicon Slopes, named for Utah's world-class ski slopes, is headquarters for tech companies like Ancestry, Domo, Entrata, Pluralsight, Qualtrics, and hosts outposts for others like Adobe and a Meta data-center. Many women — both Mormon and not — described their Utah tech companies as a Mormon boys' clubs. Ancestry, one of Utah's most established tech companies, hired former Facebook executive Deborah Liu as CEO in 2021.

Persons: Trina Limpert, Limpert, she's, she'd, Claudia Geist, It's, of Jesus Christ, Robyn Cohen, Michelle Kuo, Kuo, They're, —, Robbyn Scribner, Mike Pence, they're, Scribner, Susan Madsen, there's, harasser, I've, John Richards, Richards, " Richards, Emily Perkins, that's, Deborah Liu, Liu, Heather Friedland, Ashlee Davis, who've, we're, " Madsen Organizations: Computing Technology Industry Association, Tech, University of Utah, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Adobe, Brigham Young University, of Jesus, US Chamber of Commerce, American Community Survey, Salt Lake City Tribune, Utah State University, Ignition Ventures, NASDAQ Locations: Utah, Silicon Slopes, Silicon Valley, California, Washington, New York , Utah, Utah's, New York, JumpSearch, Silicon, Southern California, Salt Lake, There's, Seattle, Glassdoor, @rosaliechan

☆ Meta's new 'open source' AI isn't so open after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Kali Hays | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Open Source Initiative is concerned by Meta's improper labeling. These standards are maintained by the nonprofit Open Source Initiative (OSI), which also reviews whether software licenses can be approved as open source. Open source in AIThe OSI is currently leading a series of meetings and debates and accepting proposals to formally define what open source means when it comes to AI and the machine learning it uses. According to the OSI's Open Source Definition, an open source software license "shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources." Companies like MongoDB, Redis, Confluent, and Elastic, which have long maintained open source software, changed their software licenses to restrict companies like Amazon from selling their software (which would be possible with a true open source license).

Persons: Meta, Stefano Maffulli, Maffulli, it's, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Initiative, OSI, Apple, Twitter Locations: US, China, Meta, khays

☆ VMware employees in end-user computing and security believe Broadcom may divest their units after it closes its $61 billion deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Broadcom plans to acquire VMware for $61 billion, and they're preparing to close the deal this year. Workers in end-user computing and Carbon Black security think their units could be spun out or sold. Broadcom's upcoming $61 billion acquisition of VMware has led employees in two units — end-user computing and Carbon Black security — to speculate that their units could be spun out or sold. The EUC unit builds products such as Horizon and Workspace One that allow users to access their enterprise applications from anywhere over the cloud. After Carbon Black was acquired, it was supposed to take a year or two to get integrated with VMware.

Persons: Thoma, they'd, Rob Ruelas, John Ryan, Sarah Swatman, Angus McGeachie, Chris Rottner Organizations: Broadcom, VMware, Workers, Symantec, Securities, Exchange Commission, CA Technologies, Thoma Bravo, Cyber Security Services, Accenture, HCL Technologies, EUC Employees, Carbon, Symantec's Locations: EUC, Europe, Africa

☆ VMware employees are increasingly concerned over Broadcom's pending $61 billion acquisition, predicting spinouts of business units, layoffs, and lost customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Broadcom and VMware announced the $61 billion deal last year and recently pushed back the deadline as it undergoes regulatory scrutiny. Insider spoke with one former and four current VMware employees about the changes they expect to face once they are owned by the chipmaker Broadcom. A VMware spokesperson said in a statement that after the deal closes, VMware customers will obtain "more choice and flexibility" in managing their IT needs, especially across multiple cloud-computing services. Executives leaving VMwareVMware has lost several key executives since the Broadcom deal was announced (including several defecting to VMware's archrival Nutanix). "Nonetheless, I've continued to see questions in press reports about whether we intend to raise prices on VMware products.

Persons: —, Sanjay Poonen, Patrick Morley, haven't, Robert Ruelas, EUC, Kit Colbert, hasn't, Zane Rowe, Tom Gillis, Mark Lohmeyer, Ajay Patel, Kal, Karen Egan, Tom Kellermann, Raghu Raghuram, Hock Tan, Colbert, Tan, Hock E, Lucas Jackson, I've Organizations: VMware, Employees, Broadcom, SEC, Carbon, Symantec, Workers, Tech, VMware hasn't, VMware Employees, VMware VMware, Nutanix, Raghuram, Reuters

☆ We identified the 109 most important people at Google Cloud as it doubles down on AI to beat Microsoft and Amazon. Explore our exclusive org chart.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Internal Google data obtained by Insider shows the 109 most powerful people within Google Cloud. We built an interactive org chart of the top execs and staff helping Kurian lead the division. When Insider last mapped out the Google Cloud org chart at the start of 2022, it had around 40,000 employees. The Cloud unit has seen some notable departures and reshuffles in recent months. It's been almost a year since Javier Soltero, the head of Google Workspace, departed and was replaced by Aparna Pappu.

☆ Leaked memos show Google is closing some of its cafes 'until further notice' as it cuts back on employee perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google is closing some of its cafes "until further notice," according to memos sent on Wednesday. As part of its plan to cut costs this year, Google is closing some of its cafes "until further notice." Cafes at Google's campuses are one of the search giant's most famous employee perks as workers have access to free meals. The cafes called Steam, Costa, Go!, Slice, and Deja Brew Hub, and some lunchtime food trucks, will be "closed until further notice." The cafes called Till Cafe, Java Corner, Share, Fresh Market, Cornerstone, and lunchtime food trucks, will be "closed until further notice."

☆ Leaked email shows Google engineering head Urs Hölzle's plan for increased efficiency, starting with rebalancing the different types of engineers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google will be focusing on efficiency this year "given the economic environment," engineering senior vice president Urs Hölzle told technical infrastructure teams. Additionally, the team will aim to use automation to reduce the ratio of site reliability engineers to software engineers to less than 5%. Site reliability engineers manage the operations of Google's systems and keep them running, while software engineers work on developing Google's infrastructure and products. Besides efficiency, Google's technical infrastructure teams plan to focus on reliability, infrastructure innovation, security of infrastructure and data, climate and sustainability, and effectiveness. Below are more details on what Google's technical infrastructure teams plan to focus on:Theme #1: EfficiencyHölzle said that the team should focus on technical efficiency.

☆ Students of BloomTech, formerly known as Lambda School, filed a class action lawsuit against the coding bootcamp
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Students of the Bloom Institute of Technology have filed a class action lawsuit against the school. They say the coding bootcamp, formerly known as Lambda School, advertised false job placement rates. While students have previously taken legal action against BloomTech, this is the first class action lawsuit against it. Former BloomTech students said that the school fell short of its promise with under-qualified instructors and an incomplete curriculum, Insider first reported. Leaked documents also showed that BloomTech's job placement rates were much lower than advertised, Insider previously reported.

☆ Google got a pandemic boost for its Workspace software but blew it, insiders say. Now it plans to attack Microsoft with a new push in AI.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Rosalie Chan | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian spent much of his time at a partner meeting talking about Workspace, tweeted Tony Safoian, CEO of Google Cloud partner SADA Systems. "Around the globe, more than nine million paying organizations, and more than three billion users rely on Google Workspace for communication and collaboration. Other major customers like Deutsche Bank use Google Cloud for cloud infrastructure, but Microsoft Office for collaboration software. Forty-four percent of software procurers whose organization plans to or currently uses Microsoft's collaboration software also use Google Workspace, according to the 2022 Forrester study. While Google Cloud is still unprofitable, it has decreased losses to $480 million, down from $890 million last year.

☆ Google just told laid off workers that it miscalculated the amount of stock they'll get in their severance. And some employees will get less than expected.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google emailed laid off workers that it miscalculated the amount of stock they get in their severance. For some employees, this means they will be getting less stock than they initially expected. Some laid off employees at Google found late Thursday that they will be getting fewer stock units than they initially expected because of an "inaccurate calculation". It informed laid off employees that it had miscalculated the amount of stock they would receive in their severance packages, two laid off employees told Insider. At Google, laid off employees are eligible to receive stock and salary for their notice period of over 60 days.

Insider obtained recordings of the Google all-hands meeting, along with screenshots of employee comments, questions, and other reactions. Why weren't Google managers warned? During Monday's townhall meeting, employees asked why so many managers were left in the dark about the job cuts. Read more about Google's responses here: Google employees pressed leadership about why managers weren't informed before announcing layoffs of 12,000 workersWas a big activist hedge fund involved? Do you work at another Big Tech company?

☆ In a tense townhall meeting with employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai says executives will take a 'very significant reduction' in bonuses after a pandemic hiring binge led to 12,000 layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Rosalie Chan | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google started laying off 12,000 employees last week. At an internal all-hands meeting on Monday, Pichai said executive bonuses would be cut. He also said executive compensation is tied to company performance. Google executives will be taking a major reduction in bonuses after the company started mass layoffs, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees during a tense internal all-hands meeting on Monday. He also said that the more senior leaders are, the more compensation is "tied directly to company performance."

☆ Google employees pressed leadership about why even managers weren't informed before layoffs of 12,000 were announced
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Googlers pressed leadership at a town hall on Monday on why managers weren't informed beforehand. Leadership responded saying that the company wanted to "give certainty sooner." At an internal town hall meeting on Monday, Google's leadership addressed two questions about why managers weren't informed about the mass layoffs and one question about the company's communication strategy about the layoffs. "In an ideal world, we would have given managers a heads up, but we have over 30,000 managers at Google," Cicconi said on the call. Another question asked about how in a "perfect world," managers would have been given a heads up, but they weren't informed due to a "tight timeline."

☆ Stunned Google staff want 'psychological safety' after layoffs. 'How are we supposed to ever feel safe again?' one employee asks in a tense all-hands meeting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Rosalie Chan | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"How can we reestablish psychological safety for Googlers after these layoffs?" A third employee, based in the UK noted Google has stressed that "psychological safety is paramount." 'If you interpret psychological safety as removing all uncertainty, we can't do this'Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, weighed in on the topic of psychological safety during the all-hands meeting. Google's SVP and chief business officer Philipp Schindler Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images"If you interpret psychological safety as removing all uncertainty, we can't do this," Schindler added. Brian Glaser, who heads Google's people development team, reiterated Schindler's comments that a big part of psychological safety is about being able to have "real" conversations with each other.

☆ Read the memo that Google's cloud boss Thomas Kurian sent to the unit as the company lays off 12,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian sent a memo to staff addressing the layoffs. As Google lays off 12,000 employees, its cloud boss Thomas Kurian sent a memo to employees within the unit to address the cuts. Google has viewed Google Cloud as a major driver of growth to provide an alternative source of revenue to supplement its massive advertising business. "We are sincerely grateful for the contributions each of these people have made to our business," Kurian wrote in a memo to Cloud employees. A Google Cloud spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ $3 billion customer-management startup Podium laid off 12% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The $3 billion customer-management startup Podium laid off 12% of its staff Thursday. The $3 billion customer-management startup Podium laid off 12% of its staff Thursday. Podium, based in Lehi, Utah, has raised $201 million from venture-capital firms including Accel, IVP, and Summit Partners, according to PitchBook. The company, which helps businesses communicate with their customers, had about 1,300 employees, according to PitchBook. Affected employees learned they were laid off through email or when they were no longer able to access their work tools.

More than 10,000 Google employees could be set to receive bad performance reviews. More than 10,000 Google employees could be in line for low performance reviews, potentially giving the company an excuse to trim its headcount. Google introduced a new performance review tool earlier this year, named GRAD, which changes how employees are rated on their work. Under the new system, 6% of employees could receive a bad rating, up from 2% in the previous rating system. These low scores could give the company cause to put employees on performance review plans, before showing them the door.

☆ Leaked memo says Google Cloud will unfreeze hiring in more areas across the org by October but it must fix its priorities in 2023: 'We have too many Code Yellows and Purples'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google Cloud aims to unfreeze hiring in more areas across the org by October, a leaked memo said. "We have too many Code Yellows and Purples," he told staff in the memo. Google Cloud will unfreeze hiring in more areas across the organization by October, a memo sent to staff Wednesday and obtained by Insider said. We continue to aggressively hire for critical roles that support our long-term goals and customer needs," a Google Cloud spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that individual teams at Google Cloud would decide whether to unfreeze hiring based on that team's needs and priorities.

☆ Leaked documents show Google Cloud is betting big on Europe and Asia in what it sees as a $100 billion opportunity, saying if it doesn't it will 'face being left behind in half the world'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google Cloud is betting big on Europe and Asia by rolling out "trusted partner cloud," or TPC. Google sees data sovereignty as a $100 billion market, calling TPC its "most important program." Leaked internal documents that Insider viewed show that Google Cloud sees an initiative called "trusted partner cloud," or TPC, as the linchpin of this strategy. In an internal FAQ dated August 9, Google Cloud estimates that data sovereignty is a $100 billion market. The documents Insider viewed, which were dated from June, show that Google Cloud plans to launch that European cloud service in different countries through 2023 and 2024.

☆ Tanium insiders say the $9 billion startup is trying to cozy up to Microsoft and angle itself to be acquired as cost cutting and a market downturn chill hopes for its long-awaited IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Current and former Tanium employees say the company has been tightening its belt. Tanium had two rounds of job cuts in the past month as internal hopes for its IPO faded. "Plenty of ink has been spilled over the past few months on this topic," a Tanium spokesperson said of its IPO plans. Even so, many rank-and-file employees are skeptical that either an acquisition or IPO will happen, a current employee said. "All well run organizations look for ways to simplify their structures and adapt to meet changing business requirements and industry shifts," the Tanium spokesperson said.

☆ These 3 technologies will be key to Intel's business as it staves off competition from companies like AMD and Nvidia
▼ + stars: | 2021-11-03 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Under CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel is making new bets in chip manufacturing and open source software. Analysts say Intel's new foundry business, AI acquisitions, and x86 chips will be foundational. Competition among chip design rivals like AMD and Nvidia is heating up, while other chip startups are on the rise. Besides Mobileye, Intel has been expanding into building a wide array of AI chips, including through its acquisition of Nervana in 2016. Intel's x86 are foundational to its businessFinally, analysts say Intel's x86 chips have been and continues to be the bread-and-butter to its business.

☆ The head of Amazon's quantum computing product explains its master plan as it signs key partnerships to establish a foothold in the next big thing
▼ + stars: | 2021-08-07 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon was relatively quiet about quantum computing until it announced Amazon Braket in 2019. Amazon Web Services has been ramping up its quantum computing partnerships in the past few months. Along with that, AWS will offer cloud software from Quantum Computing Inc., which helps companies solve business problems using quantum computing, and it recently partnered with BMW to launch a quantum computing challenge to crowdsource automative projects in the field. That silence ended in 2019 when AWS announced its quantum computing service, Amazon Braket. In quantum computing, there's a lot of "noise" that gets in the way of solving problems, so this approach aims to reduce errors.

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