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☆ Zoom to lay off 1,300 employees, or about 15% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Zoom on Tuesday announced plans to cut about 1,300 workers, or 15% of its workforce, according to a blog post on the company's website. Shares of Zoom were up 7% in afternoon trading. Yuan said the cuts will impact every organization across Zoom, and employees who are laid off will be offered up to 16 weeks of salary and health-care coverage. The company's layoff announcement marks the latest round of job cuts in the tech industry, as Dell on Monday announced plans to cut 6,650 jobs. In January, Google revealed plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft disclosed plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers.

☆ Biden plans to go after social media and kids’ mental health in SOTU speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he attends the DNC 2023 Winter Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 3, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden will take aim at tech companies and discuss data privacy and online safety when he delivers the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, the White House said. Biden will also argue it is the responsibility of companies, not consumers, to minimize the amount of information they collect. The White House said social media companies often do not enforce their terms of service with respect to minors. Biden will discuss how his administration plans to build on the surgeon general's youth mental health advisory, the Department of Health and Human Services' new Center of Excellence on Social Media and Mental Wellness, and the Children and Media Research Advancement Act.

Microsoft is hosting a major event on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET where it's expected to talk about OpenAI's ChatGPT and how Microsoft will use it in its products. The event will not stream live for the public, but CNBC and other media outlets will be there to cover the news live. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, on Monday tweeted a photo of himself alongside Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Follow along for live updates from Microsoft's Tuesday event below.

☆ Microsoft likely to reveal ChatGPT-related service at event on Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company's Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2022. Nadella gave a keynote speech at an event hosted by the company's Korean unit. Microsoft on Monday confirmed plans to host a news event Tuesday that could be related to the AI chatbot ChatGPT, just minutes after Google unveiled its competing AI software called Bard. Microsoft's head of public relations confirmed the existence of the event in a tweet Monday, but did not confirm what it's about. Microsoft said the renewed partnership with OpenAI will accelerate breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and help both companies commercialize advanced technologies in the future.

☆ Dell to lay off 6,650 workers, or 5% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Dell on Monday announced plans to lay off 5% of its workforce, or about 6,650 employees, according to an SEC filing. As of Jan. 28, 2022, Dell had 133,000 total employees, according to a company filing with the SEC. In the memo to employees, Clarke said Dell has navigated economic downturns before, and "emerged stronger" as a result. The company's layoffs announcement marks the latest round of job cuts in the tech industry, as PayPal announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs Tuesday. Earlier this month, Google announced plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter ‘trending to breakeven’ after near bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk Twitter account displayed on a phone screen and Twitter logo displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 22, 2022. Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that the last few months have been "extremely tough," but the social media company is "now trending to breakeven." "Twitter still has challenges, but it is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Twitter launched — and relaunched — its updated Twitter Blue subscription service in December after Musk had pulled and delayed the service in November. "I'm worried about me too," Musk wrote in response.

☆ U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been transiting across the country for several days, according to NBC News. Department of Defense officials have not yet confirmed the balloon being shot down. Defense officials said the Pentagon considered shooting down the balloon earlier this week but decided against it after briefing Biden. Biden concluded that the U.S. would not shoot down the balloon because debris from it could cause damage on the ground, a Pentagon official said. A senior Pentagon official told reporters Thursday night that the object was clearly a surveillance balloon that was flying over sensitive sites to collect intelligence.

☆ Snap shares tumble 13% following disappointing fourth quarter report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Snap tumbled 15% in premarket trading Wednesday, a day after the company released a disappointing quarterly report for the third quarter in a row. In a letter to investors, Snap called it a "challenging year" that was marked by "macroeconomic headwinds, platform policy changes, and increased competition. Revenue in the company's fourth quarter was up slightly from a year earlier. UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley downgraded Snap from buy to neutral, citing increased competition from other social media companies like Meta , TikTok and YouTube . Jeffries analysts said Snap's fourth quarter was disappointing, and they lowered their fiscal year 2023 estimate by 2%.

☆ PayPal to lay off 2,000 employees in coming weeks, about 7% of workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President and CEO Dan Schulman wrote in the release that PayPal is working to address the "challenging macroeconomic environment." PayPal on Tuesday announced plans to lay off 2,000 employees, or around 7% of its workforce, according to a release posted to the company's website . Earlier this month, Google announced plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers. In its third-quarter earnings report, PayPal beat on earnings and revenue expectations, but shares slid after the company's Q4 revenue estimate came in behind analysts' expectations. During a call with analysts after the company's Q3 earnings report, acting CFO Gabrielle Rabinovich talked about the company's projections for 2023.

☆ Spotify shares pop after earnings show strong user growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People exit the Spotify headquarters building in Lower Manhattan on January 23, 2023 in New York City. Spotify shares popped as much as 10% in premarket trading Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations for revenue and showed strong user growth. There were 33 million net additions to monthly active users during the quarter, marking a record high for the company. Spotify also reported 205 million paid subscribers, up 14% from a year ago. In its third-quarter report, Spotify said it expected to add approximately 23 million new monthly active users in Q4, bringing its total to 479 million.

☆ Death of Tyre Nichols revives calls in Congress for policing reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Five Memphis officers, also all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Tyre Nichols, who died in hospital on January 10 three days after being stopped on suspicion of reckless driving. Durbin added that he would not rule out a federal investigation into the entire Memphis Police Department following Nichols' death. Some policing reforms were already in place in Memphis at the time of Nichols' death, including a requirement for officers to de-escalate situations where they saw others using excessive force. "Just as much those officers are responsible for the death of Tyre Nichols, so is the implicit bias police culture that exists in America," Crump told ABC's "This Week."

☆ Precision Neuroscience, co-founded by Neuralink alum, is creating a brain implant thinner than a human hair
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Precision was co-founded by Benjamin Rapoport, who also co-founded Elon Musk's BCI company, Neuralink , and Michael Mager. But while Neuralink's BCI is designed to be implanted directly into the brain tissue, Precision relies on a surgical technique that is designed to be less invasive. A BCI is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies, and several companies have successfully created devices with this capability. The device is called the Layer 7 Cortical Interface , and it's a brain implant that aims to help patients with paralysis operate digital devices using only neural signals. "I think that the brain is, in a lot of ways, the next frontier for modern medicine," he said.

☆ Microsoft announces new multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company's Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2022. Microsoft on Monday announced a new multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. Microsoft declined to provide a specific dollar amount, but Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft was in talks to invest as much as $10 billion. Microsoft said the renewed partnership will accelerate breakthroughs in AI and help both companies commercialize advanced technologies in the future. In July 2019, Microsoft backed OpenAI with $1 billion, and the investment made Microsoft the "exclusive" provider of cloud computing services to OpenAI.

☆ Spotify cuts 6% of its workforce, content chief departs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Spotify has a total workforce of around 9,800 people, which means the cuts impact about 600 employees. Dawn Ostroff, Spotify's head of content, is also leaving the firm. Ostroff, a former president of Conde Nast Entertainment, joined Spotify in 2018 to help the company grow its fledgling advertising and podcasting businesses. In her time at Spotify, Ostroff signed Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground Productions to have the former U.S. president and first lady work on exclusive podcasts for Spotify. She also led the deal to get exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan show and was responsible for negotiating exclusive podcasting deals with Kim Kardashian, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

☆ Jeff Zients reportedly will be Biden’s next chief of staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Jeff Zients, the White House's Covid-19 response czar, speaks during a press briefing at the White House where they spoke about a pause in issuing the Johnson & Johnson Janssen Covid-19 vaccine on April 13, 2021, in Washington, DC. Jeff Zients will serve as President Joe Biden's next chief of staff, according to media reports on Sunday. After the midterm elections in November and an action-packed two years in the White House, Klain has told colleagues that he is ready for something different, a Washington Post report said. Klain previously acted as Biden's chief of staff during former President Barack Obama's first term, and he's worked with Biden since he ran for president back in 1987. A White House representative did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment.

☆ Biden makes surprise video appearance on 'SNL,' joining host Aubrey Plaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 15, 2022. President Joe Biden made a surprise video appearance on "Saturday Night Live" during first-time host Aubrey Plaza's monologue. The "White Lotus" star, who, like Biden, is from Delaware, joked that she was voted the most famous person from the state, beating out the president. Biden then appeared via video and said, "Aubrey, you're the most famous person out of Delaware and there's no question about that. Many viewers took to Twitter to question whether the president's appearance was real, or if the video was generated by AI, but Biden shared the clip on his Twitter account Sunday afternoon.

☆ Legislators call Biden's treatment of classified documents 'irresponsible'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

After the FBI found more classified documents at the Wilmington, Delaware, home of President Joe Biden during a consensual search Friday, legislators said Sunday that Biden's actions were "unbelievable" and "irresponsible." The discovery was the fourth time since November that classified records or materials have been found at a private address of Biden's. Former President Donald Trump is under criminal investigation by another special counsel for taking hundreds of classified records and other government documents from the White House when he left office. Most Americans think both Biden and Trump have handled classified material inappropriately, according to a poll released Sunday by ABC News. "There is one important document that distinguishes former President Trump from President Biden — that's a warrant," Coons said.

☆ Ron Klain, Biden’s White House chief of staff, is reportedly expected to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) is joined by Ebola Response Coordinator Ron Klain (L) in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, U.S. November 13, 2014. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain is preparing to step down in the coming weeks, according to a report from The New York Times. After the midterm elections in November and an action-packed two years in the White House, Klain has told colleagues that he is ready for something different, the report said. Klain previously acted as Biden's chief of staff during former President Barack Obama's first term, and he's worked with Biden since he ran for president back in 1987. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

☆ Apple just announced a new $299 HomePod
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple announced the second generation of its HomePod on Wednesday. The second-generation HomePod follows the first generation, which Apple discontinued in 2021 in favor of the smaller and more affordable HomePod mini. The original HomePod launched at $349 and never gained the traction of cheaper Amazon Echo or Google Nest products. The HomePod should sound better thanks to support for spatial audio, which makes it seem like music is coming from around you. The new HomePod is available to order online and in the Apple Store, in black or white, starting Wednesday.

It came after Amazon said in November it was looking to cut staff, including in its devices and recruiting organizations. The company had 2,450 employees, according to PitchBook data, suggesting around 490 employees were laid off. In a letter to employees, CEO Logan Green and President John Zimmer pointed to "a probable recession sometime in the next year" and rising ride-share insurance costs. Shopify: 1,000 jobs cutIn July, Shopify announced it laid off 1,000 employees, which equals 10% of its global workforce. Tesla: 6,000 jobs cut

☆ Shares of Roblox pop after December update shows increase in bookings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Roblox popped 13% on Tuesday after the gaming company released its December 2022 metrics report. It showed estimated bookings were between $430 million and $439 million for the month, up 17% to 20% year over year. Roblox calls its revenue figure bookings. The December report seemed to encourage investors after shares of Roblox closed down 15.7% when the company released its November business update. That report showed slowing growth and a decline in how much it earns from its daily users.

☆ FAA launches investigation after two planes nearly collide at JFK airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Grounded Delta Airlines planes are parked at gates at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 11, 2023, in New York. The FAA said a Boeing 737 operated by Delta Air Lines stopped its takeoff around 8:45 p.m. when air traffic controllers noticed another American Airlines aircraft crossing the runway. The Delta flight "stopped its takeoff roll approximately 1,000 feet" from the point where the American Airlines Boeing 777 had crossed, according to the FAA's preliminary analysis. Flight watcher @xJonNYC noticed the near miss and shared audio of the tense air traffic control exchange on Twitter Saturday. A spokesperson for American Airlines said the company will defer to the FAA for comment.

☆ More classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home, White House counsel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden listens during a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2023. Additional classified government documents were found at President Joe Biden's Delaware home this week, the White House confirmed Saturday. The White House previously said that only one page was found there. Trump is the focus of a criminal probe by the DOJ for his removal of the records from the White House in January 2021. "People know I take classified documents and classified materials seriously," Biden said.

☆ Barclays cuts Apple price target on concerns over demand weakness, slowing services growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Barclays recently cut its Apple price target from $144 per share to $133 per share, noting it's concerned that Apple Services estimates are "at risk." The firm lowered its revenue estimate by 7% for the quarter to account for slowing services growth, production problems and weakening demand. "What started out as production driven cuts has moved to demand weakness across product categories," they wrote in a Tuesday note. Apple struggled with iPhone 14 Pro shipments during the holiday season because of Covid restrictions on its primary factory in China. Foxconn has attempted to entice workers back with bonuses, and Reuters reported that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production.

☆ Coinbase shares pop on company's plans to slash workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It is a big win for Coinbase as it continues to expand internationally despite continued pressure on the crypto market. Shares of Coinbase popped about 5% on Tuesday after the cryptocurrency exchange announced it will cut 20% of its workforce. Coinbase slashed 18% of its workforce in June during a collapse in its stock and crypto prices. Coinbase is the latest tech company to cut jobs after going on a hiring spree during the Covid pandemic. The analysts maintained their outperform rating on the stock and said they remain excited about the "real-world innovation" taking place in the crypto industry.

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