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☆ A Michigan computer science major says he sent out 456 internship applications and only got 3 offers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewComputer science major Oliver Wu says he pulled out all the stops in his quest for a summer internship. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. "I started applying in July, and soon I hit 200 applications," Wu said, adding that he was making 15 to 20 applications a day before the school term began. AdvertisementLast week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told staff to brace for more job cuts this year. Wu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: —, Oliver Wu, Wu, Wu isn't, Sundar Pichai, Pichai Organizations: Service, University of Michigan, Business, Newsweek, Ford, Tech, Business Insider

☆ The generative AI future will not be free
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Our paid AI futureToday, we're at the start of a similarly exciting new technology wave with generative AI. Even Google, the master of free online services, is considering paid subscriptions for some of its new AI offerings. So, why will generative AI offerings be paid from the start? One possible answer is that ads may not work as well in this new generative AI future. Charging for new generative AI services is one way to create new earnings.

Persons: —, Chris Anderson, Stephen Colbert, Colbert, Alexa, Insider's Eugene Kim, Sundar Pichai, Bard chatbot, Oren Etzioni, Dave Limp, Etzioni, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Organizations: Service, Business, Facebook, YouTube, Google, Engadget, Alexa, Big Tech, Apple, Microsoft, Meta Locations: Silicon, we're

☆ Googlers are realizing layoffs are 'just business' — and they're starting to fight back
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) 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. Pushing back against Google leadersIn response to the most recent wave of cuts this week, Google software engineer Diane Hirsh Theriault took to LinkedIn to vent about Google's leadership. "We're continuing to support any impacted employees as they look for new roles here at Google and beyond," Google said. Though he acknowledged one director followed up with him after the news, he has "harbored a lot of anger and frustration at Google's leadership" over the way layoffs have been handled since January 2023. AdvertisementThat's probably a pretty tough thing to accept for Google workers aggrieved by the layoffs.

Persons: —, Larry Page, Sundar Pichai, Googlers, Diane Hirsh Theriault, RSVP, hiZPDomas5, Stephen McMurtry, Kenneth Smith, Gergely Orosz, Smith, Orosz Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Big Tech, LinkedIn, Alphabet Workers, Alphabet Workers Union Locations: Mountain View, New York

☆ Premarket stocks: Buybacks could rebound this earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Stock buybacks struggled to recover last year after taking a hit in 2022, even as corporate earnings began to rebound. Investors view buybacks as an indication that a company’s leadership believes its own shares are undervalued and are confident about its future performance. Buybacks also tend to push up share prices due to the added demand. ONEOK, a natural gas company, on Wednesday unveiled a $2 billion share repurchase program. The week’s total for initial claims landed far below economists’ projections for 205,000 initial claims, according to FactSet estimates.

Persons: Stock buybacks, Buybacks, buybacks, “, ”, Howard Silverblatt, Dow, Sundar Pichai, Brian Fung, Pichai, ” Pichai, Read, —, Alicia Wallace Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Deutsche Bank, Wednesday, Deutsche, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Dow Jones, Google, CNN, of Labor Locations: New York, Lennar, buybacks

☆ Google CEO’s internal memo warns of further layoffs ahead
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Some parts of Google’s business will not be hit by this year’s changes, he said. “The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices …. The memo came as The New York Times reported Wednesday that Google-subsidiary YouTube was laying off 100 workers. CNN has not independently verified the YouTube layoffs. A Google spokesperson confirmed to CNN the existence of Pichai’s memo as well as the YouTube layoffs, which affect roughly 100 roles in the company’s partnerships organization that handles outreach to YouTube content creators.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, “, ” Pichai Organizations: CNN, ”, Google, New York Times, YouTube

☆ Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the tech giant's staff must brace for more job cuts in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in an internal memo that there'll be more "role eliminations" in 2024. The tech giant laid off hundreds of staff working on its devices and services in January. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai says there will be more layoffs at the search giant in 2024.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, —, Pichai, Alex Heath Organizations: Google, Service, Business

☆ Why constant job cuts could be the new normal for Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. A shorter, plain-English version might look like this: "We're a really big company that makes a lot of money and Wall Street wants us to make more. And if that's happening at Google — a company worth close to two trillion dollars — you can expect to see it at other Big Tech companies, too. All of the biggest tech companies would like to have something shiny and new to show off to investors — another growth story. But in any case: Absent a truly breakthrough product, Big Tech is going to look like any other big, established industry — one that periodically lays off workers.

Persons: —, What's, Sundar Pichai, it's, Meta, that's, they're Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Wall, Big Tech, Tech

☆ Google CEO says more job cuts are needed in 2024 in order to reach ‘ambitious goals’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, speaks on artificial intelligence during a Bruegel think tank conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 20, 2020. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is warning employees that more job cuts are coming this year as the company continues to shift investments toward areas like artificial intelligence. In a memo titled “2024 priorities and the year ahead” that staffers received Wednesday evening, Pichai said, “we have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year.” In the memo, which was obtained by CNBC, Pichai said company leadership is gearing up to share its AI goals for the year this week and will publish its 2024 OKRs (objectives and key results). “The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices,” Pichai wrote. For some teams that means eliminating roles, which includes “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity,” he added.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, ” Pichai Organizations: Google, ”, CNBC Locations: Brussels, Belgium

☆ Wall Street's rocky start
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementIn today's big story, we're looking at how there are still plenty of risks in the market despite big expectations. What's on deck:Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesOne of the best indicators of the year ahead comes from banks' Q4 earnings. BI's finance team has a roundup of the biggest Wall Street firms' earnings reports and what it means for their hiring plans.

Persons: Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, —, Chip Somodevilla, BI's Michelle Abrego, Rebecca Ungarino, Kevin O'Leary, Mark Davis, Goldman, Sharmin, Rahmani, Morgan, Steve Cohen, Sundar Pichai, Boris Streubel, Rebecca Zisser, Apple, Mike Katz Organizations: Republican, GOP, Service, Citi, JPMorgan, BlackRock, Staff, Getty, Goldman Sachs Wealth, New York Mets, Google, Hertz, Business, Bloomberg Locations: Iowa, Google's Berlin, San Diego, Austin

☆ Google staff sound off about 'corporate overlords,' impersonal layoffs, and a changing company culture, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewIt's just days since Google employees were hit by another round of layoffs. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. However, CEO Sundar Pichai has yet to address the new round of layoffs internally, a report by The Verge's Command Line said. The poorly explained job cuts have left some employees disgruntled and lashing out against management. The popular post, which referenced Google's last round of job cuts, read: "Thank you, our corporate overlords, for our new annual tradition."

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, we've Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Verge's, Amazon

☆ Google’s $2.7 billion antitrust fine should be upheld by EU court, top adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Brussels — Google’s €2.42 billion ($2.7 billion) antitrust fine in the European Union should be upheld by Europe’s top court, an adviser to the court said Thursday, dealing a blow to the world’s most popular internet search engine. Juliane Kokott, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, said judges should confirm the fine. “Google … was leveraging its dominant position on the market for general search services to favor its own comparison shopping service by favoring the display of its results,” she said. Irrespective of its appeal, the company continues “to invest in our remedy, which has been working successfully for several years, and will continue to work constructively with the European Commission,” a spokesperson said. Google has also challenged two other EU rulings, regarding its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service.

Persons: Juliane Kokott, ”, Margrethe Vestager, Sundar Pichai Organizations: European Union, European Commission, Google, Justice, Big Tech Locations: Brussels, European, United States

☆ Marissa Mayer wants to embrace the AI race and risks — in the right way
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Josée Rose | Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Marissa Mayer has worked at Google, Yahoo, and founded a startup called Sunshine. But perhaps what Mayer should be most known for is her early bet on artificial intelligence. AdvertisementAs the generative-AI race picks up speed, Mayer said we have to understand the technology's "discomfort zone." Advertisement"What happens with the artificial intelligence the West develops, versus the AI that's developed inside of China?" "The values, standards, and a lot of different things in terms of what goes into the underpinnings of AI is very different across cultures."

Persons: Marissa Mayer, Mayer, —, I've, Sundar Pichai Organizations: Google, Yahoo, Service, Business, Stanford University, Big Tech Locations: Silicon Valley, China, America

☆ Governments are spying on Apple and Google users through phone notifications, U.S. senator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden warned that foreign governments are spying on smartphone users by compelling Apple and Google to turn over push notification records, according to a letter he sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday. In the U.S., however, Wyden said information about push notification records cannot be released to the public. Wyden did not specify which governments have asked Apple and Google for push notification records. A Google spokesperson said the company shares Wyden's commitment to keeping people informed about requests for push notification records. The company did not clarify where it publishes requests for information about push notification records, or if it is restricted.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Joe Biden, Sen, Ron Wyden, General Merrick Garland, Wyden Organizations: Apple, White, Washington , D.C, U.S, Google, Wednesday, DOJ, CNBC, The, Justice, CNBC PRO Locations: Washington ,, Apple's, U.S

☆ What can you buy a billionaire who has it all? I asked ChatGPT for gift ideas for Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and other tech execs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

I tried using AI to generate gift ideas for big names in tech. Some gift ideas were better or more realistic than others. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Why not use it to plan your holiday shopping and brainstorm some gift ideas for your loved ones? I prompted ChatGPT to give me a few specific gift ideas for each name with varying results — check out the AI's recommendations below.

Persons: ChatGPT, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, —, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Google Bard Organizations: Service, Google

☆ 'Morale is at an all-time low': Ex-Googler writes scathing letter slamming layoffs and 'eroded' culture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He also accused CEO Sundar Pichai of lacking "visionary leadership." AdvertisementAn ex-Google employee has published a highly critical letter attacking the firm's "eroded" culture and accusing CEO Sundar Pichai of lacking "visionary leadership." AdvertisementHickson is unusually candid, however, especially in his remarks on CEO Sundar Pichai. AdvertisementHickson says these layoffs have "insidious" effects on the culture that can cause employees to "dramatically dial back any risk-taking." AdvertisementAs for whether Google's culture can be salvaged, Hickson thinks it can, but says the "clock is ticking."

Persons: Googler, Sundar Pichai, —, Ian Hickson, Hickson, Larry Page, Sergey Brin Organizations: Google, Service, Business, BI

☆ OpenAI's interim CEO once described meeting Sam Altman and immediately recognizing his business superpower
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI's interim CEO Emmett Shear praised Sam Altman's dealmaking skills in a podcast interview. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementSam Altman, the ex-CEO of OpenAI who got ousted from the company, is more than just the face of ChatGPT. He's also known for his business superpower as a savvy dealmaker, at least according to Emmett Shear, now interim CEO of OpenAI. "Sam Altman is really good at raising money," Shear said on the podcast.

Persons: Emmett Shear, Sam Altman's, Shear, OpenAI CEO's, Altman, —, Sam Altman, OpenAI, He's, Twitch, Logan Bartlett, Sam, Bartlett, Altman's, Y, Kevin Bacon, Peter Thiel, Rahul Vohra, Sundar Pichai, Lachy Groom Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Sprint, Verizon, Financial Times, Google Locations: Helion, Silicon Valley

His portrayal came in testimony in an antitrust trial focused on Epic Games' attempt to upend Google's store for Android phone apps. It's similar to a payment system that Epic unsuccessfully challenged in a parallel lawsuit filed against Apple's iPhone app store. Sweeney said Google tried to entice him with a wide range of financial incentives, which he rejected. After rejecting Google's overtures, Epic tried to distribute Fortnite for Android through its own website. “It's an issue I see as existential to all games, including Epic,” Sweeney said.

Persons: Tim Sweeney, Sundar Pichai, Sweeney, Jonathan Kravis, Kravis, ” Sweeney, Fortnite, Sweeney didn't Organizations: FRANCISCO, Google, Games, Washington , D.C, U.S, Supreme, Activision, Android, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation Locations: San Francisco, Washington ,, View , California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden and other global leaders have spent the past few days melding minds with Silicon Valley titans in San Francisco, their discussions frequently focusing on artificial intelligence, a technology expected to reshape the world, for better or worse. “The world is at an inflection point — this is not a hyperbole," Biden said Thursday at a CEO summit held in conjunction with APEC. None were more bullish than Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose software company has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT. That is, we finally have a technology that understands us, not the other way around,” Nadella said at the CEO summit. Musk had been scheduled to discuss his hopes and fears surrounding AI during the CEO summit with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, but canceled Thursday because of an undisclosed conflict.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Satya Nadella, ChatGPT, Nadella, “, ” Nadella, Sundar Pichai, ” Pichai, we’ve, Pichai, ”, State Condoleezza Rice, ” Robert Moritz, Moritz, Elon Musk, Musk, Marc Benioff Organizations: FRANCISCO, Valley titans, Economic Cooperation, APEC, Microsoft, Google, Inc, State, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, “, PricewaterhouseCoopers Locations: San Francisco, Asia, OpenAI

☆ Google CEO Sundar Pichai compares AI to climate change at APEC CEO Summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a panel at the CEO Summit of the Americas hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 09, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence is like climate change in that it will proliferate worldwide, and that people across the globe share a responsibility to create guardrails. At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit in San Francisco on Thursday, Pichai was asked by Bloomberg's Emily Chang how to get to a global consensus on "smart AI regulation." I think that's true for AI." Pichai said countries have a shared responsibility to build global frameworks — something he's warned about in recent months.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Emily Chang, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping Organizations: Americas, U.S . Chamber, Commerce, Google, Economic Cooperation Locations: Los Angeles , California, Asia, San Francisco, Japan

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Rational exuberance
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Both figures are 0.1 percentage point lower than economists expected. Separately, euro zone gross domestic product shrank 0.1% quarter on quarter in the three months ended September. That means the Swiss bank thinks rates will be between 2.5% and 2.75% by next year.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, —, Pichai Organizations: CNBC, CPI, CPI U.S, UBS, Reserve, Apple, Google, Epic Games Locations: U.S, Swiss

☆ Apple gets 36% of Google search revenue from Safari, Alphabet witness says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Google pays Apple more than a third of its search advertising revenue from Safari under the terms of the two companies' search default agreement, an Alphabet witness said in open court Monday amid a protracted antitrust battle between Google and the Department of Justice. The 36% figure, which was not previously known to the public, is one of the clearest indications of how lucrative Google's search deal has been for both Apple and the search engine company. The search default agreement is a major focus of the proceedings. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi has estimated in a note to clients that Apple would see $19 billion in 2023 revenue as a result of the search engine default deal with Google. "Everybody talks about the open web, but there really is the Google web," he said on the stand.

Persons: Kevin Murphy, Department's, John Schmidtlein, Murphy, Amit Mehta, Bernstein, Toni Sacconaghi, Apple, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Microsoft's Bing Organizations: Google, Apple, Safari, Department of Justice, University of Chicago, Williams, Connolly, Bloomberg News, Microsoft

☆ Alphabet CEO, in Play store trial, acknowledges some materials not retained
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

He largely stuck to one-word answers but was occasionally admonished by Epic Games' attorney for straying beyond simple answers. Pichai, in examination by a Google attorney, denied he had ever tried to keep any document hidden from a lawsuit. Epic Games has alleged in its lawsuit that app store policies amount to an illegal monopoly and have caused consumers to pay artificially high prices. Google has said changing its systems would cause its Android-based app store to be less secure and damage its ability to compete with Apple (AAPL.O). Google has settled claims over its app store with dating app maker Match Group and from U.S. consumers and U.S. states.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Evelyn Hockstein, Pichai, ” Pichai, Epic's, “ Fortnite ”, Cary, Greg Bensinger, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Google, U.S, India's, White, REUTERS, Alphabet's Google, Epic Games, Games, Apple, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, San Francisco, North Carolina, U.S

☆ So that's why Google wants you to use Chrome on your iPhone so badly
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google pays Apple 36% of search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser. That's on top of the $18 billion a year it's paying Apple just to be Apple's default search engine. AdvertisementThe federal antitrust case against Google had an astonishing reveal Monday: Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser. And that's on top of the $18 billion Google paid Apple in 2021 just to be the default search engine on Apple devices. You can certainly imagine why Google would really love iPhone users to download the Chrome app and set that as their default search engines.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Apple, Candy, it's Organizations: Google, Apple, Service

(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday confirmed that Google pays Apple 36% of Safari search revenue, under the terms of a default search agreement that is core to the Justice Department's antitrust claims. Pichai was testifying in a separate lawsuit filed against Google by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. The Epic attorney then alleged that Google pays Samsung, Android's largest hardware partner, less than half of what it pays to Apple. Google's TAC costs include all of Google's payments to companies like Apple and Samsung to place its search engine in front of users. Apple, Google and Samsung did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Pichai's testimony.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Mandel NGAN, MANDEL NGAN, Pichai, Google's, Kevin Murphy, Murphy, Connolly, John Schmidtlein, Leswing Organizations: Artificial Intelligence, Getty, Google, Apple, Epic Games, Washington , D.C, Samsung, Google's TAC, University of Chicago, Williams, Department, D.C Locations: Washington ,, AFP, Virginia, Washington

But on the witness stand, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, said there was “value” in being the default search engine on a device and framed the agreements with other companies as sound business decisions. Google paid $26.3 billion for its search engine to be the default selection on mobile and desktop browsers in 2021, according to the company’s internal data presented during the trial. Kevin Murphy, a Google economic expert, testified on Monday that Google shared 36 percent of search revenue from the default deal with Apple. Mr. Pichai testified that he repeatedly renewed the search engine deal with Apple because it worked well, leading to an increase in search usage and revenue and benefiting Apple, Google and its shareholders. They cited an instance in 2014 when Mozilla, which makes the Firefox browser, exited a default-search partnership with Google and selected Yahoo.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Kevin Murphy, Pichai, ” Organizations: Google, Apple, New York Times, Mozilla, Yahoo

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