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☆ Google and DeepMind must put aside years of rivalry and risk ruffling feathers to take on OpenAI, ex-employees and collaborators say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google and DeepMind must collaborate more despite the risk of internal turmoil, sources told the FT.A newly formed AI unit named Google DeepMind risks ruffling feathers, the publication reported. Google and DeepMind are reportedly risking internal turmoil by collaborating more to thwart the growing threat posed by OpenAI. The Financial Times reported the news, citing people familiar with the matter. Former employees and collaborators at both companies told the paper that the newly formed unit, known as Google DeepMind, would need to put aside "years of rivalry" to see off the challenge from OpenAI. But the integration of DeepMind with Google's AI lab is fraught with risk.

☆ Big Tech's employee culls and 'year of efficiency' are working
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tech's 'year of efficiency' is showing early signs of working. It's about the current crop of tech CEOs showing investors they can run a tight ship well into the future. Meta has also started to see some payoff from its recent efforts to curb costs and bet on AI too. The positive results come after tech firms talked up 2023 as a year of efficiency. Insider analysis has found many of tech's most brutal job-choppers expanded rapidly through the pandemic, at the cost of efficiency.

☆ Leaders Dortmund ready to open up gap with win over Bochum
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

With second-placed Bayern Munich, a point behind on 59, in action at home to Hertha Berlin on Sunday, victory over Bochum would pile more pressure on Dortmund's embattled title rivals. Their last league title dates back to 2012. Dortmund coach Edin Terzic could be without defender Nico Schlotterbeck against Bochum while Raphael Guerreiro trained alone earlier this week. They are in 15th place on 27 points, just two points above the relegation playoff spot. Hertha are without a win in their last seven games and are anchored in last place on 22 points points.

☆ Tech giants aren't just cutting thousands of jobs — they're making them extinct
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

That has far-reaching implications for tech workers and those seeking to work in the industry. By some estimates, more than 250,000 tech workers have been laid off since the start of 2022. 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. This trend has significant implications for tech workers and those hoping to work in the industry. As Insider's Ito has reported, tech workers and software engineers have often been thought of as impervious to the march of automation.

☆ Microsoft's $68.7 billion Activision takeover blocked by UK competition regulator
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft's $68.7 billion takeover of Activision has been blocked by UK regulators. The UK's CMA blocked the deal on Wednesday over concerns antitrust concerns. Microsoft's $68.7 billion takeover of "Call of Duty" developer Activision has been blocked by the UK's competition regulator, marking a devastating blow to the blockbuster deal. According to the CMA, Microsoft already accounts for around 60-70% of global cloud gaming services through its Xbox platform and Azure. Microsoft and Activision did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

At the same time, U.S. officials are expanding holding capacity for migrants at the border while piloting faster asylum screenings. The Biden plans aim to address a likely increase in unauthorized immigration after COVID border restrictions that have been in place since 2020 are set to end on May 11, barring any last-minute legal or congressional intervention. The expansion of refugee processing in Latin America would come as the Biden administration has yet to restore refugee admissions after they were slashed under Trump. Miller noted that an estimated 660,000 migrants are currently in Mexico, citing United Nations figures. CBP has capacity to detain 6,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and plans to add space for 2,500 more, Miller said, adding that the agency has stepped up its ability to quickly transport migrants away from the border.

☆ Facebook's former security chief calls Elon Musk's blue check marks saga a 'historical self-own'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ex-Facebook exec Alex Stamos said Elon Musk's blue check saga was a "historical self-own." Last week, Musk took away blue check marks from some legacy accounts, only to return some of them. Facebook's former security chief, Alex Stamos, said Elon Musk's blue check mark saga last week was a "historical self-own." The billionaire initially agreed to give blue check marks solely to users who subscribed to Twitter Blue for $8 per month, but many celebrities and news organizations made a point of refusing to pay for the service. Stamos, who has been critical of Musk in the past, was previously Facebook's chief security officer until 2018.

☆ Sudan conflict: 'Am I going to get killed in front of my family?' Stories of terror on the risky escape route
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Catherine Nicholls Celine Alkhaldi Magdy Samaan | Sana Noor Haq | Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Safa Babikir was sleeping in her aunt’s house in Khartoum when she was woken by gunfire. Then, she says, “the screams started.”Desperate to escape the fierce fighting in Sudan’s capital, Babikir soon made a decision to flee the country on a treacherous bus journey to neighboring Egypt. In Sudan, bus drivers are avoiding areas under RSF control, according to al-Idrisi, as they try to avoid skirmishes between the armed forces and the paramilitary group. “The darkest thought I had was, am I going to get killed in front of my family? “Ultimately they were able to escape Khartoum; which seems to be the ultimate mission for a lot of people,” Imad said.

☆ Elon Musk's blue-check saga marks the beginning of the end for Twitter, top Tesla investor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Top Tesla and Twitter investor Ross Gerber is not happy with Elon Musk. He said Musk's decision to hand out free blue checks was the beginning of the end for Twitter. Top Tesla and Twitter investor Ross Gerber said the latest turmoil at Twitter could spell the beginning of the end for the company. A subscription to Twitter Blue costs $8 a month, but many celebrities and news organizations have refused to pay. The investor added that Twitter was in a further state of confusion after several accounts belonging to dead users had blue checks returned to their profiles.

☆ Twitter descends into chaos as users lash out over Elon Musk's blue-check reversal for celebrities: 'Feel my wrath Tesla man!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Blue checks were reinstated on several accounts but users said they hadn't paid for them. Rapper Lil Nas X, whose blue check remained, tweeted that he didn't pay for Twitter Blue. Some users who had died, including Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain, had blue checks on their profiles. The ongoing confusion highlights the challenges Musk has faced in getting people to sign up for Twitter Blue. Bloomberg reported that traffic data showed only 4% of people who visited the Twitter Blue sales website in March subscribed.

☆ How Elon Musk transformed Twitter’s blue check from status symbol into a badge of shame
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Over the weekend, numerous high-profile people announced — with apparent despair — that they too had been “punished” with verification badges. Twitter Verified account seen in an iPhone screen in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 9 2022. Instead of conveying authenticity, Twitter verification is now fraught with multiple conflicting messages. For weeks, many legacy verified users had signaled they would not be paying for Twitter Blue. It doesn’t benefit Twitter for celebrity accounts to be buried along with the other non-paying accounts Musk has said the platform will demote.

☆ Bayern Munich suffer shock 3-1 loss at Mainz to leave title race open
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MAINZ, Germany, April 22 (Reuters) - League leaders Bayern Munich slumped to a 3-1 loss at Mainz 05 on Saturday, conceding all three goals in a span of 14 minutes in their latest slip-up which could prove costly in the race for the Bundesliga title with five games remaining. Bayern, chasing an 11th straight league crown, are on 59 points and second-placed Borussia Dortmund, on 57, can take over the lead with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday. "Too much has happened to this team and it struggles to bounce back when things don't go its way. We struggle to win matches. They now also risk missing out on the Bundesliga title after suffering a third defeat under Tuchel in seven matches.

☆ South Asian Muslims Herald Eid al-Fitr With a Night of Communal Revelry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Sadiba Hasan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Eliyah Haque, 6, was getting her hands painted with henna in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. Asked what her favorite part of Eid celebrations was, she said: “We come together.”South Asian Muslims both local to the area and from other boroughs and states flocked to Jackson Heights on Thursday evening to celebrate Chand Raat, a festival on the night before Eid al-Fitr to herald the holiday. Chand Raat, a South Asian Muslim celebration that encapsulates the intersection of religion and culture, translates to “night of the moon” in Urdu and Hindi. It’s observed on the last night of Ramadan, when the new moon is sighted, indicating the end of the month of fasting.

☆ The Champions League Ventures Down Memory Lane
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Bayern Munich will not take this well. The club is unlikely to shrug its shoulders at being eliminated from not only the Champions League but the German cup, too, in the space of a few days. Thomas Tuchel, freshly installed as Nagelsmann’s replacement, should be safe for now, but all around him will be a blur of change. There was a sense, watching Manchester City hold Bayern at bay on Wednesday evening, of two clubs moving in opposite directions. Like Juventus and Barcelona before it, Bayern Munich will at some point bow to, or be bowed by, England’s economic primacy.

☆ Dominion wasn't here to save democracy — it just wanted money from Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Fox News detractors wanted Dominion's lawsuit against Fox News to move forward for democracy's sake. "PLEASE Dominion --- Do not settle with Fox! The election technology company filed a civil defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, and asked for $1.6 billion. But just because Fox settled Dominion's lawsuit doesn't mean it's now free of legal risk. "Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy."

☆ Elon Musk dreams of Twitter's AI power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's personal AI ambitions. Elon Musk was one of the more prominent names on an open letter calling for a pause in AI development. My teammate Asia Martin points out that Musk's position on AI is contradicted by Twitter's investment in generative AI. Twitter's recent purchase of hardware normally used to develop generative AI products shows the extent of this ambition. Read more on Elon Musk's AI ambitions.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is roughly breaking even. That looks like vindication for his haphazard management but he'll need a sharper plan to get to profitability.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk's reign of chaos at Twitter may have saved it from collapse, but there's a long way to go. This was better than the $1.1 billion Twitter lost in 2020, but still indicative of the firm's struggle for consistent profitability. Another, possibly terminal, issue: Musk seems not to have quite figured out what he wants Twitter to be. But if he wants Twitter to make money consistently, Musk needs users coming back for the long run. Chaos won't do that.

☆ More layoffs may still come for tech workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The tech sector has shed an estimated 330,000 jobs since last year, but my colleague Hasan Chowdhury writes that more cuts will likely come. Here's why tech workers have to brace for more layoffs. The AI arms race has pushed tech organizations to recruit AI talent from university programs aggressively. Google employees reportedly tried to stop Bard. Read Insider's exclusive on the cuts.

☆ Amazon Union President Chris Smalls Seen Fighting Worker in Video
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

On the night of December 5, the president of the Amazon Labor Union pummeled another union member. Some longtime Amazon Labor Union organizers decided to begin organizing on their own, without Smalls. All three said they believe in Smalls' mission and support the goals of the Amazon Labor Union, but worry about Smalls' ability to lead. Amazon Labor Union members consoled each other after the union lost the vote at its second warehouse, LDJ5, last April. One purpose of the organization appears to be to raise funds for the Amazon Labor Union, according to its certificate of incorporation.

☆ Tech employees should expect more debloating even after 330,000 jobs got wiped
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Twitter have collectively chopped around 70,000 staff — but ongoing concerns about profitability and over-hiring means they could slim down more. Google and Amazon should cut more jobs: analystsAnalysts note that Google, for example, added around 71,000 employees in the past three years. They say Meta has seen "limited impact on its growth" after laying off around 25% of its workforce since November. The bank's analysts say that profitability per employee at Amazon excluding its warehouse workers — a measure of its efficiency — is "significantly below peers." With less cash available, cuts will likely persist and workers in tech should brace for more instability this year.

☆ Big Tech employees are getting culled. Their European colleagues get stronger labor laws and softer landings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

European Big Tech employees have better labor protections"There are regulations in Europe that apply to collective situations, based on European law: the so-called Mass Dismissal Directive," said Dr. Jordan. But in January, Twitter employees were reported to have been paid just one month's severance, according to CNN. Twitter employees in other European hubs such as Germany, Spain, Ireland, and the UK are also pushing back, with the help of the countries' labor laws and unions. Twitter employees in Germany have also worked with the Verdi union to push Twitter into making a better severance offer, Fortune reported. The process could take months instead of weeks, Brittin added — another testament to Europe's stronger labor protections for its employees.

☆ After gaining control of our reporter's phone, a hacker ripped her off for $10,000. She set out to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You can see pictures of the massive meatball here — but I warn you, it looks exactly how you would expect. Now, before the scientists start serving up Dinosaur DNA, let's take a look at the top tech stories this week. Once the hacker had control of Hartmans' phone, they didn't waste any time. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk plans to build a town named "Snailbrook" — but he isn't the only billionaire creating their own utopia. Some of Lee's friends and colleagues, including Elon Musk, have lambasted the "violent crime in SF."

☆ CHART: We analyzed Apple's revenue per employee to show how it's avoided tech bloat and delayed layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Data shows its revenue per employee trumps the rest of Silicon Valley, a sign of its efficiency. Apple's comparative efficiency is visible through one particular metric that is back in vogue: Revenue per employee. Insider analyzed revenue per employee at major tech firms between 2018 and 2022. Revenue per employee is a get-back-to-basics measure of efficiency and productivity, assigning a hard dollar value to individual workers. Rabois also criticized tech firms, specifically Google and Meta, for "over-hiring" — a practice Apple avoided during tech's boom years.

☆ Elon Musk's $1 million Twitter bounty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's $1 million bounty. Twitter CEO Elon Musk has some kind of bounty out for whomever is behind the botnets that he says target certain users and suppresses the reach of their tweets. Million dollar bounty if convicted" in response to a Twitter user who claimed that botnets "silence" certain accounts. Musk and the user were referring to a thread where another user analyzed Twitter's recently open-sourced algorithm. Twitter users called attention to the difficulty in seeing direct messages that mention "gay", "queer", and "trans."

☆ CHART: Twitter's revenue per employee crashed 60% in the years leading up to Musk's drastic firings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter's revenue per employee crashed 60% in the years before Elon Musk's takeover. Twitter's revenue per employee cratered by almost 60% between 2018 and the period of 2022 before Musk's takeover of the embattled social media company, Insider analysis of the firm's SEC filings found. Revenue per employee is a simple measure of efficiency that was previously in vogue in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. A growing number of influential tech executives and investors say tech firms, bloated by over-hiring, should re-prioritize the metric. Since 2018, Twitter has seen a drastic fall in the revenue generated per employee.

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