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☆ Big tech companies continue cost cutting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tech companies have chased short-term fads in a desperate attempt to win the favor of Wall Street investors — and it's making the online experience worse. As tech companies continue to focus on efficiency, it's clear that one metric is the most important: revenue per employee. After years of over-hiring, tech companies are now looking to squeeze the most efficient performance from each worker, my colleague Hasan Chowdhury reports. But it's another sign that tech companies are drifting away from pro-remote work policies. Google, Meta, and Microsoft have all failed to make their AR and VR devices into mainstream successes.

☆ CHARTS: We analyzed revenue per employee to show why Amazon, Meta, and others are axing workers with brutality and speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

One productivity metric to watch is revenue per employee, which has fallen at some big firms. Tech companies swelled in the years up to and during the pandemic, but more manpower didn't necessarily mean more money. The chart shows Amazon, Meta, and Twitter in particular hired heavily from 2018, but also experienced declining revenue per employee. Size isn't everythingAnd how have tech companies fared against each other? The chart above shows Amazon and Salesforce are producing roughly the same revenue per employee as Twitter despite having tens of thousands more workers: each employee at Amazon generated $333,550 in revenue last year, while Salesforce employees generated $394,911.

☆ Tech firms hold all the power right now as Goldman Sachs predicts AI will impact 300 million jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Goldman Sachs estimates 300 million jobs could be affected by AI. A new report from Goldman Sachs reckons generative AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 could impact 300 million full-time jobs globally. OpenAI's apparent willingness to roll out advanced AI models as soon as they're ready points more to a future where the tech replaces vast swathes of the workforce. History dictates that innovation with the power to disrupt and eliminate jobs typically paves the way for new fields, in time. A 2020 report from the World Economic Forum predicted AI will displace 85 million jobs by 2025, and create 97 million new ones.

☆ Elon Musk is right: AI needs to slow down for the good of society
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and over 1,000 others signed a letter calling for a pause on new AI models. Wozniak, Musk, and more than 1,000 other business leaders signed a letter seeking guardrails and a pause on training AI models as the technology grows more powerful. The letter argues powerful AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 "should only be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable." It's hard to develop responsibly when the free market demands moving quicklyTo be clear, AI, particularly generative AI like ChatGPT, is incredibly transformative technology. Releasing powerful AI models for the public to play with before it's ready isn't making the technology better.

☆ African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Sudanese refugee, Awadhya Hasan Amine, reacts during a protest asking for evacuation, outside the headquarters of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Tunis, Tunisia March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed AbidellaouiTUNIS, March 24 (Reuters) - Weeks after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks. Outside the United Nations refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week by the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes. While the official crackdown appeared to end weeks ago, migrants say they still face abuse. "Tunisia is an African country.

☆ 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."

☆ Amazon and Meta's 48,000 job cuts usher in Big Tech's new mantra: Revenue per employee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon and Meta say their combined 48,000 job losses are about getting leaner. All told, the two firms have cut 48,000 jobs across two waves of layoffs in less than six months. Discussing Twitter's remaking under new owner Elon Musk, Rabois noted that Musk is "steering hard" in terms of revenue per employee. A 2009 analysis of Big Tech's performance found Google's revenue per employee was over $1 million, the highest of all tech firms. Management experts say that cuts make workers jittery, weakening their productivity and firms' ability to bring in new talent.

☆ Credit Suisse's $3.2 billion cut-price sale signals an ongoing crisis that could expose unicorn fintechs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The firesale of Credit Suisse to UBS is putting the banking world on high alert. A $54 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank wasn't enough to keep Credit Suisse afloat, and UBS stepped in. Credit Suisse suffered idiosyncratic problems, such as a spying scandal involving former CEO Tidjane Thiam, as well as crises relating to its relationships with hedge fund Archegos Capital and financial group Greensill Capital. "There's already a lot of soul searching about what fintech business models are," says Paul Rolles, an ex-Morgan Stanley managing director and cofounder of money-management service HyperJar. Rolles believes the banking issues of the past couple of weeks are as much about confidence as intrinsic issues.

☆ It's wild that Western governments have decided that TikTok might spy for China. The app hasn't helped itself.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

TikTok denies it feeds user data to China, but the drip-drip of revelations hasn't helped. The suspicion is that TikTok's owner ByteDance is in cahoots with the Chinese Communist Party and shares data about Western users with China. TikTok has maintained the app doesn't spy on individuals, and has pointed to the steps it's taking to hive off user information. FCC commissioner Brendan Carr responded to Bertram asking if "any member of the CCP accessed non-public US or EU user data from inside China." US social-media services normalized the aggressive harvesting of user data, and routinely hand over information to international governments.

☆ We're about to find out whether AI might replace those 200,000 laid-off tech workers as Silicon Valley prioritizes efficiency
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As companies like Meta and Twitter get leaner, AI could replace those engineers. A consistent research finding is that AI tools make humans more efficient. "One reason that large firms struggle with new tech like AI: managers are squeamish about risk," Mollick tweeted. The best pro-human case is that workers are kept on and given access to AI tools like ChatGPT. It may be time for tech workers to update their favorite smug adage: Learn to code.

☆ AI Tech Like ChaptGPT, Bing, Bard Is a Bigger Threat Than Social Media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Nowadays, the promise of social media as a unifying force for good has all but collapsed, and Zuckerberg is slashing thousands of jobs after his company's rocky pivot to the metaverse. Much like social media in 2012, the AI industry is standing on the precipice of immense change. And as Altman and his cohort charge ahead, AI could fundamentally reshape our economy and lives even more than social media. If social media helped expose the worst impulses of humanity on a mass scale, generative AI could be a turbocharger that accelerates the spread of our faults. Social media amplified society's issues, as Wooldridge puts it.

That's the question posed by certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. He and others pushing a grind culture are motivated, as tech employees commenting on the workplace app Blind noted. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ The unintended consequences of remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While remote work offers flexibility, it often comes at the cost of maintaining a work-life balance. Remote work has also made it possible to hire anyone anywhere, which CEOs and hiring managers are starting to realize. Tech companies are offshoring jobs, due to America's broken immigration system, and remote work is making it easier. American tech companies are offshoring jobs, but it isn't all because of remote work. He says remote work led to all of this in the first place.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's spectacular implosion shows how digital banking can decimate a lender in 24 hours
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Silicon Valley Bank's rapid implosion showed how bank runs can go at warp speed in the digital age. But while digital banking meant SVB's collapse accelerated to warp speed, its foundations had been left shaky. Digital banking, and the expectation of instantaneous transactions, is now the norm for the internet generation. Bianco said SVB's collapse should "scare the hell" out of bankers and regulators worldwide. Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, an independent financial adviser, said SVB's collapse had brought Trump-era deregulation into question.

That's the question posed by a certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. "There's nothing for these people to do — they're really — it's all fake work," he said. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ The implosion of Silicon Valley's largest bank has investors worried worse is to come: 'There might be some kind of crack in the financial system'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | James Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The implosion of the California lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate has investors worried. Christopher Whalen, the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, a financial consultancy, said Silicon Valley Bank was "just the tip of the iceberg." He added that the situation at Silicon Valley Bank was "a reminder that many institutions are sitting on large unrealized losses" on bond holdings. Mould said the "fire sale" of Silicon Valley Bank's bond portfolio raised broader concerns. Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday implored customers to "stay calm" in an apparent bid to stave off further mass withdrawals and avert collapse.

☆ 'PayPal Mafia' member says Google and Meta intentionally overhired engineers to prevent them from working at other companies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"PayPal Mafia" member says Google and Meta "do fake work." The companies over-hired thousands of employees to fulfill a "vanity metric," said investor Keith Rabois. He's part of the infamous PayPal cohort (pictured above — he's number nine) that went on to play influential roles at other major tech companies. Rabois estimates that Facebook parent company Meta and Google each have thousands of employees who don't do much. He even suspects that Google intentionally overhired engineers to prevent them from working at other companies.

☆ Elon Musk's dream of producing 20 million Teslas per year hangs on whether or not it can pull off a major shift in battery tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Tesla wants to make lower cost electric vehicles, as a key part of its plan to fend off challenger. Still, given Tesla's delivery of roughly 1.3 million vehicles last year, it clearly has a long way to go to hit Musk's goal. The growing portion of Tesla's LFP vehicles have, in part, been the result of a deal it struck with Chinese battery supplier CATL in 2020. Tesla and the rush for lithiumA lack of supply chain controls hinders efforts to produce low-cost EVs. The company started to take steps towards taking control of lithium supply into its own hands.

☆ Google and Meta over-hired thousands of employees who do 'fake work,' says PayPal Mafia's Keith Rabois
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Silicon Valley VC Keith Rabois says mass layoffs are due to hiring becoming a vanity metric in tech. Rabois told an Evercore-hosted event that firms like Meta over-hired by thousands of staff. It's all fake work," Rabois said. Speaking remotely from Miami at an event hosted by banking firm Evercore, he called out major tech firms for over-hiring and said the sector's current mass shedding of jobs to rein in costs was overdue. Later on the call, he estimated that Alphabet's Google and Facebook owner Meta had thousands of employees who don't do anything.

Indonesia, the world's biggest producer of palm oil, raised the mandatory blend of palm oil in biodiesel to 35% starting in February, from 30% earlier, to reduce diesel fuel imports amid high global energy prices and to reduce emissions. The benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 24 ringgit to 4,181 ringgit a tonne on Wednesday. An El Nino episode usually results in below-average rainfall in main palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia, cutting yields and pushing up global prices. "It used to be palm oil is export-oriented for Indonesia, but sales are declining and domestic consumption is increasing," Fadhil said. James Fry, the chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, however, cautioned that the correction in gasoil prices could bring down demand for biodiesel and pull-down palm oil prices.

[1/4] Ibrahim Kurt helps salvage belongings from a collapsed home in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Nurdagi, Turkey, March 5, 2023. This 20-year-long rapid construction came crashing down in just two minutes," said Hasan Bal, 52, a retired teacher who lost 10 immediate relatives in the magnitude 7.8 quake. The initial quake on Feb. 6 tremor sliced directly through Nurdagi, leaving it among the worst hit communities in Turkey's deadliest modern disaster. Residents say cheap credit had helped the town expand, reflecting a nationwide building boom that has defined Erdogan's two decades in power. Aslan said her family is thankful for a furnished container home where they live for now on the outskirts of town.

Arslan, her husband and their three children survived for five days trapped under the rubble of their five-storey apartment building. I have no fears now that my family is beside me," Havva said as she sat beside a wooden picnic table after a family breakfast. On the night the quake hit, the parents and the three children rushed to hold each other when the violent shaking struck. As walls collapsed around them, the floor beneath gave way and the Arslan family fell one floor down, with the four floors above crashing down around them seconds later. "'My name is Fatmagul Arslan', I shouted.

☆ Elon Musk's new Master Plan for Tesla should've introduced cheap EVs. Instead, we got a whole lot of nothing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The world is waiting for cheap EVs, but Tesla isn't ready to deliver — yet. Elon Musk's EV company held an Investor Day in Texas that had everything but cheap EVs. He needs one now — and fast — as competitors are putting the pedal to the metal in their own quests for low-cost EVs. On the investor front, low-cost EVs help make Tesla a truly global phenomenon. But the lack of any firm details on a cheap EV made for a puzzling omission from what was meant to be a showcase of Tesla's offerings.

☆ ‘I am free!’: Hasan Minhaj quits Twitter live on ‘Daily Show’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Meta's and Twitter's subscription plans show they care more about money than free speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Sunday, Mark Zuckerberg – still stinging from his botched metaverse launch – unveiled Meta Verified, a new subscription service costing $12 on web and $15 on iOS and Android. The timing of the launches of Meta's and Twitter's subscription services seems to be no coincidence, then: They're introducing paid-for services at a time when they're being squeezed of digital ad revenue. Meta says its new subscription service is primarily for content creators, but this feels disingenuous because everyone on its service is, in effect, a "content creator." Charging for it illustrates a clear misunderstanding Zuckerberg has of Facebook and its users: Facebook is responsible for vetting who gets access to its platform, not users themselves. Just 0.2% of Twitter users in the US had signed up for Twitter Blue, Musk's subscription service, by the end of January.

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