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☆ An AI agent may soon be at your beck and call, but it might cost you a bit of your privacy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In today's big story, we're looking at Google's big event that's pitching all the ways AI agents can make our lives easier . Google I/O, the tech giant's biggest developer conference, was heavy on the rise of so-called AI agents , writes Business Insider's Hugh Langley, who was there in person. AdvertisementGoogle's faithful, old search engine got a noticeable facelift with the help of AI , writes BI's Geoff Weiss. Steven Puetzer/Getty, Tyler Le/BIThe stakes for Google are high, as nailing AI agents opens up a massive business opportunity. For AI agents to be so intuitive, they'll need access to seemingly every aspect of our lives.

Persons: —, Tyler Le, you've, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Hugh Langley, Sundar Pichai, Geoff Weiss, Hugh, Alistair Barr, Gregory Wayne, Steven Puetzer, hasn't, Alistair, Demis Hassabis, Minchillo, Keith Gill, Naz Vahid, Andy Sieg's, Noah Berger, Jia Feng, Tingting Ji, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, BI's Peter Kafka, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Astra, GameStop, AMC Entertainment, JPMorgan, Citi, Amazon Web Services, Walmart, UPS, Nielsen, Cisco Systems, Warner Bros, Discovery Locations: New York, Dublin, London

☆ Google is starting to feel like any other business, and staging a comeback won't be easy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In today's big story, we're looking at how Google has gone from the tech industry's vanguard of cool to just another boring company . AdvertisementGoogle has long stayed atop Silicon Valley's volatile popularity contest — but the best place to work in tech is starting to feel like any other business , Business Insider's Hugh Langley and Lara O'Reilly write. Bureaucracy, an aversion to risk, and deference to Wall Street over employees — things Google long eschewed — have become the norm. The latest example is the debacle surrounding Gemini — its flashy new AI model that faced backlash for being too "woke."

Persons: —, Rebecca Zisser, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly, Alistair Barr, Sundar Pichai, Hugh, Lara, Mateusz Wlodarczyk, BI's Peter Kafka, it's, David Rosenberg, Gary Shilling, Snowflake's Frank Slootman, Ozgur Hakan Aslan Toyota, Boxabl, Elon Musk, Tesla, Hewlett Packard, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Gemini, Meta, Big Tech, OpenAI, Corporations, Nvidia, SEC, Universal Music Group, Universal, BI Locations: —, New York, London

☆ AI isn't driving tech layoffs — but it does make a good scapegoat
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Layoffs have been sweeping the tech sector and some are blaming AI. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementFears about AI leading to job cuts are increasingly common, especially as everyday usage of the technology grows. The development was causing anxiety in the ad sales departments, per the report, which later faced a round of job cuts. While AI may not simply replace workers, companies' investment in AI development may be causing cutbacks in other areas.

Persons: —, Duolingo, Hugh Langley, Fortune's Jeremy Kahn Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Google, Business

☆ Silicon Valley's biggest ever 'dogfooding' experiment has begun. The implications are huge.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Big Tech companies are testing AI tools internally in a massive 'dogfooding' experiment. This involves Big Tech companies taking large language models and generative AI tools and putting them to work inside their own organizations. The findings could also change how Big Tech companies operate — and how many expensive engineers they need. Big Tech companies want to sell AI tools to help businesses, developers, advertisers, creators, and other customers reach this new productivity nirvana. If these dogfooding tests go well, Big Tech companies may not need to hire as many workers in the future.

Persons: —, It's, Googler Anthony Vallone, Ruth Porat, Hugh Langley, it's, BI's Ashley Stewart, Stewart, there's, Urs Hölzle Organizations: Big Tech, Google, Microsoft, Service, Microsoft Microsoft Locations: Silicon

☆ Google's efforts to shrink its workforce in Korea has hit a snag as some employees are refusing to go
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

About 10 Google employees from its office in Seoul have accepted the company's suggestion to resign, the report said. Around 100 Google workers in Korea formed a union last year due to mounting concerns over the industry-wide layoffs in the US. "With the ongoing job cuts within the US tech industry, employees have been concerned about their job security and decided to establish a union," Kim Jong-sub, head of the Google Korea union, told Korea Herald last April. Google laid off 12,000 employees in 2023 — about 6% of its headcount — and it's continuing to make job cuts this year. A total of 262,595 employees were laid off from 1,186 tech companies in 2023, Layoffs.fyi, which tracks job cuts, showed.

Persons: KangNam, Bongsoo Jung, Kim Jong, Sundar Pichai, Hugh Langley, Google didn't Organizations: Service, Google, Korea JoongAng Daily, Business, Google Korea, Korea Herald, Korea Locations: South Korea, Korea, Seoul

☆ Apple tells dozens of employees in San Diego to move to Austin or face layoffs, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple has told 121 staff in San Diego to move to Austin or face being laid off, Bloomberg reported. They've been given until the end of February to decide if they'll relocate, the report said. AdvertisementApple has reportedly told 121 employees in San Diego to relocate to Austin or face being laid off. People with knowledge of the matter said the employees told Bloomberg the majority of the 121 workers weren't willing to relocate. The company told staff in its Development and Preservation teams to reapply for their jobs or they would get laid off.

Persons: Apple, They've, they'll, —, Siri, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, Schiffer, Hugh Langley, Tim Cook, Apple's, Tim Cook's, It's, Apple didn't Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Apple, Texas, Preservation, Meta, Google, CNBC, Microsoft, Huawei, Reuters, Business Locations: San Diego, Austin, China

☆ Insider Today: Tech workers are bummed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementIn today's big story, we're looking at why some tech workers don't love their jobs anymore. Many factors led to the shift, from significant layoffs in Big Tech to in-office mandates and financial pressure due to high interest rates. AdvertisementAdvertisement(Interestingly enough, Terrazas writes that workers in non-tech roles — like human resources and marketing — report the highest job satisfaction at Big Tech companies.) But it feels like tech workers themselves will end up having to do a bit of recalibration. Working in Big Tech has become a job like any other corporate gig.

Persons: Alyssa Powell, tech's, Aaron Terrazas, Terrazas, Insider's Hugh Langley, Grace Kay, Garry Gensler, Drew Angerer, Gary Gensler, Janet Yellen, it's, Satya Nadella, JASON REDMOND, ADAM GRAY, didn't, Israel, Don't, Rae Dunn, Jim Jordan, Jada Pinkett, Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Goldman Sachs, Lockheed Martin, Johnson, Leah Kern, Joe's, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Sigma, Insider Tech, Big Tech, Tech, Terrazas, SEC, Getty, LinkedIn, Tesla Edinburgh, Amazon, Republican, Bank of America Locations: Big, Israel, Ukraine, AFP, Tesla, Temple, El, New York City, York, San Diego, London, New York

☆ Insider Today: Big Tech goes on trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Speaking of Big Tech, it's a big day for the industry as the DOJ's antitrust trial against Google starts today. It's also a strategy the Department of Justice argues is "anticompetitive and exclusionary" in a landmark trial for Big Tech kicking off today. The trial is the biggest to hit the tech industry since the government sued Microsoft in the late 1990s. AdvertisementAdvertisementMore broadly, the case is a bellwether for how the government could argue future cases against Big Tech companies in the modern era. Each case is unique, but their focus on monopolistic behavior means the Google trial could set precedents followed by both sides.

Persons: Tayfun, it's, there's, you'll, It's, Hugh Langley, Kent Walker, Hugh, Walker, Chelsea Jia Feng, Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman's, Walter Wriston's, Gil Perez, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan doesn't, Dimon, Elon, Franz von Holzhausen, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Yossakorn Kaewwannarat, VCs, they're, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, Beyoncé, Karol G, Frances Tiafoe, Austin Krajicek, Mackenzie McDonald, Tommy Paul, Rajeev Ram, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Google, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Department of Justice, DOJ, Microsoft, Apple, Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Meta, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Street, Workers, Gallup, Startup, MTV, Team, Amtrak Locations: Wall, Silicon, Chelsea, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ Google's Achilles' heel: The tech giant's struggles in augmented reality highlight a much bigger weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But the tech giant's struggles in AR highlight a bigger weakness at the company: hardware. The tech giant has struggled to gain momentum in the mixed-reality sector despite numerous efforts, Insider's Hugh Langley reports. AdvertisementAdvertisementFrom Iris to Alius to Betty, Google's code-named AR projects rival a millennial parent's baby-name list. But in the world of AR, hardware is the most critical piece of the puzzle. Of course, the tech giant might argue it has bigger fish to fry.

Persons: It's, Insider's Hugh Langley, Alius, Betty, Hugh, —, Google's, it's Organizations: Google, — Apple, Apple Vision, Samsung, Meta Locations: Google's

☆ That's one way to draw people back to the office: Google hotel reportedly touts $99 special to 'make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google is offering staff a promotion to stay at its on-campus hotel for $99 a night, CNBC reported. The promotion said it would "make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace," CNBC reported. The Google promotion said it would "make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace," CNBC reported. Though, workers will be expected to pay for the hotel stay out-of-pocket as it will not be considered refundable business travel, the publication said. The promotion appears to be one of several steps Google has taken to bring more remote workers back into the office.

Persons: Ryan Lamont, Googlers, it's, pushback, Insider's Hugh Langley Organizations: Google, CNBC, Staff, Morning Locations: Francisco, Mountain View , California, San Francisco

☆ Google Bard is already behind in the AI wars with OpenAI and Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google Bard, the search firm's answer to ChatGPT, has underwhelmed early testers. Users in the US and UK trying out the AI chatbot find it pales in comparison to OpenAI's tech. The makers of the Twofer Goofer word puzzle found ChatGPT was much better at solving the brainteasers than Google's Bard. It's possible that the company does have a super impressive AI tool up its sleeve. Insider's Hugh Langley reported earlier in March that Google employees are testing a more intelligent version of Bard, nicknamed "Big Bard."

☆ Google's most cutting-edge moonshot lab is refocusing on actually making money
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I'm Matt Weinberger, deputy editor of Insider's tech analysis team, filling in for my colleague Diamond Naga Siu for the next few days. It's yet another sign that the tech industry is very different than it was even a year ago. A moonshot in the foot for Google: Insider's Hugh Langley reports that Google's X Development is scaling back from its pioneering, famously envelope-pushing roots as a tech research lab. Instead, it'll focus on initiatives that actually make money for Google and its parent company Alphabet. Read Insider's in-depth review of the newest model of the iPad Pro, released in late 2022.

☆ A tense all-hands meeting at Google leaves employees worried about layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oh, and Insider released its inaugural Cloudverse list of the 100 top leaders building the next generation of the Internet. Insider's Hugh Langley reports on a tense all-hands inside Google, where employees once again pushed CEO Sundar Pichai to comment on the possibility of layoffs. Google employees have been worried about layoffs for a while, especially while pretty much all of the search giant's peers in Big Tech have cut jobs in recent weeks and months. Notably, employees used the all-hands to raise concerns over a new performance tool named GRAD. Swapping Big Tech for climate tech.

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