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☆ Exclusive: The FBI's McGonigal labyrinth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +28 min

She never saw McGonigal pay. "The notion that Mr. Deripaska is some proxy for the Russian state is a blatant lie," Ruben Bunyatyan, a spokesperson for Deripaska, told Insider by email. McGonigal was not charged with espionage, and although there is currently no evidence that McGonigal committed espionage, an FBI source told Insider that the investigation is ongoing. At the FBI, McGonigal racked up a string of big cases and promotions. "He said he needed to make more money," Guerriero told Insider.

☆ Google emails some Canadian employees to tell them they're being laid off as part of its plan to cut 12,000 jobs globally: 'Feels as harsh as being fired'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Google employees in Canada found out on Monday they were laid off, per reports. The layoffs in Canada come as part of the 12,000 global job cuts Sundar Pichai recently announced. They couldn't confirm how many Canadian employees were laid off or which departments were impacted the most, per the report. Laid-off employees in the US found out their fate soon after the announcement. "Today I am among the 12K employees impacted by layoffs at Google Canada.

☆ UK Google employees may not know if they're being laid off until April, according to internal memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

UK-based Google employees may not know if their jobs are at risk until "early April." "I know many of you will be feeling anxious," Google's UK chief told staff in a memo this week. UK Google employees affected by the company's recent layoffs may not be notified that their jobs are in danger until April, according to a memo sent to staff on Tuesday. Matt Brittin, Google's executive overseeing Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, told UK employees that those whose roles were provisionally targeted for redundancy would know "by early April." "I know many of you will be feeling anxious," Brittin told employees in the memo.

Insider obtained recordings of the Google all-hands meeting, along with screenshots of employee comments, questions, and other reactions. Why weren't Google managers warned? During Monday's townhall meeting, employees asked why so many managers were left in the dark about the job cuts. Read more about Google's responses here: Google employees pressed leadership about why managers weren't informed before announcing layoffs of 12,000 workersWas a big activist hedge fund involved? Do you work at another Big Tech company?

☆ Stunned Google staff want 'psychological safety' after layoffs. 'How are we supposed to ever feel safe again?' one employee asks in a tense all-hands meeting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Rosalie Chan | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"How can we reestablish psychological safety for Googlers after these layoffs?" A third employee, based in the UK noted Google has stressed that "psychological safety is paramount." 'If you interpret psychological safety as removing all uncertainty, we can't do this'Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, weighed in on the topic of psychological safety during the all-hands meeting. Google's SVP and chief business officer Philipp Schindler Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images"If you interpret psychological safety as removing all uncertainty, we can't do this," Schindler added. Brian Glaser, who heads Google's people development team, reiterated Schindler's comments that a big part of psychological safety is about being able to have "real" conversations with each other.

☆ In a tense townhall meeting with employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai says executives will take a 'very significant reduction' in bonuses after a pandemic hiring binge led to 12,000 layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Rosalie Chan | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google started laying off 12,000 employees last week. At an internal all-hands meeting on Monday, Pichai said executive bonuses would be cut. He also said executive compensation is tied to company performance. Google executives will be taking a major reduction in bonuses after the company started mass layoffs, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees during a tense internal all-hands meeting on Monday. He also said that the more senior leaders are, the more compensation is "tied directly to company performance."

☆ A document circulated by Googlers explains the 'hidden force' that has caused the company to become slow and bureaucratic: slime mold
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An internal Google document laid out a theory for why the company has become so slow. Komoroske compared Google's bottom-up organizational structure to a slime mold: single-cell organisms that can work independently but also form together to create a larger network. "Google is basically a slime mold," wrote Komoroske, placing Google on a sliding scale from top-down to bottom-up structures. The last update on the internal document was made in 2019. "I believe they are not specific to any one context, but rather emerge inherently any time there are individuals with autonomy who care deeply," wrote Komoroske.

Insider identified 75 of the most powerful execs at the streamer, in an interactive org chart. Product chief Greg Peters took on additional duties as chief operating officer and has since broadened his purview to include gaming. Former PepsiCo exec Sergio Ezama joined in 2021 to become Netflix's chief talent officer. Insider identified 75 of the most powerful executives now at Netflix. They include C-suite executives finance chief Spencer Neumann, as well as business leads like Bajaria and movie boss Scott Stuber.

☆ Big Tech predictions for 2023: A rival for Twitter, Amazon deceleration, Google's AI wake-up call, Microsoft's serious game, cloud bills, and DTC decline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Hugh Langley | Kali Hays | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The painful adjustments will ripple across the industry in 2023.Insider's Big Tech reporters share what to watch this coming year. At $44 billion, the debt-fueled deal was completed quickly at valuations from the frothy tech bull market of 2021. Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe slow breakdown of Twitter under Musk appears to be upon us. Mastodon has experienced a major influx of users, hitting more than 5 million accounts after Musk took over Twitter. With intense tech antitrust scrutiny, these new services are unlikely to be gobbled up by Big Tech.

☆ Apple's walled garden is preparing to face the ultimate test
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Apple is prepping to comply with EU regulations by allowing sideloading iOS apps, Bloomberg reports. This will put Apple's walled garden to the ultimate test, and prove if it was right all along. Steve Jobs himself championed this strategy, and is said to have needed to be convinced to bring an App Store to the iPhone at all. Over the years, everyone from independent app developers to CEOs have decried this provision. Are you a developer with insights to share on how Apple's App Store policies impact your business?

☆ In a tense all-hands, Google's CEO said it's 'tough to predict the future' when asked whether the company would do layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said it's "tough to predict the future" when asked about layoffs. The possibility of layoffs was top of mind for Google employees during a company all-hands Thursday, but CEO Sundar Pichai wouldn't rule out cuts. Some employees at Google have been nervous over the prospect of layoffs, which have hit other tech giants, such as Meta and Amazon. Employees also asked about Google's new performance rating system, known as GRAD, which the company introduced this year. Some employees have said GRAD, which this year replaced Google's previous performance tool, has had a rocky start.

☆ Elon Musk's SpaceX unveils Starlink-like satellite service for governments called 'Starshield'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SpaceX has launched a satellite network, called Starshield, to be used by governments. Starshield will offer a higher level of security than its Starlink satellite service, SpaceX says. Despite this, SpaceX indicated that Starshield will be different from the Starlink satellite constellation, which now has more than 3,200 satellites in low-Earth orbit. "While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use," SpaceX says on its website. SpaceX says it can work at "unprecedented speed" to deploy its Starshield network given that it provides "end-to-end" solutions from building rockets to user terminals.

☆ An ex-senior Twitter employee laid off by Elon Musk says the way job cuts were executed was 'inhumane'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's handling of Twitter's layoffs was "inhumane," an ex-Twitter worker said, per the LA Times. Some Twitter staff found out they'd been laid off when they were locked out of work laptops. Since losing his job, Shevat has filed arbitration claims against Elon Musk with the help of attorney Lisa Bloom, per the LA Times. "The way Elon Musk executed the layoffs was really inhumane," Shevat said in the conference, cited by the LA Times. Thousands of Twitter employees have been laid off, resigned, or fired since Musk took over.

☆ Google has a secret new project that is teaching artificial intelligence to write and fix code. It could reduce the need for human engineers in the future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google is working on a tool that teaches code to write and rewrite itself. The project was spun up at the company's moonshot unit X, and moved into Google Labs this year. Google is working on a secretive project that uses machine learning to train code to write, fix, and update itself. It could have profound implications for the company's future and developers who write code. Google Labs pursues long-term bets, including projects in virtual and augmented reality.

More than 10,000 Google employees could be set to receive bad performance reviews. More than 10,000 Google employees could be in line for low performance reviews, potentially giving the company an excuse to trim its headcount. Google introduced a new performance review tool earlier this year, named GRAD, which changes how employees are rated on their work. Under the new system, 6% of employees could receive a bad rating, up from 2% in the previous rating system. These low scores could give the company cause to put employees on performance review plans, before showing them the door.

☆ Inside the week that changed Facebook forever: Record Meta layoffs have sowed confusion and rising anger among employees who are beginning to lash out at CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Kali Hays | Rob Price | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Meta let go of 11,000 employees, and it's not clear which divisions and roles were most affected. After a harrowing week of record layoffs at Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives convened a town hall meeting on Friday for everyone who survived the cull. During the Q&A part of the call, an employee asked a question referring to Twitter's job cuts, and Zuckerberg weighed in, according to people who attended. Roughly 11,000 staff were let go, the first major job cuts in the company's 18-year history. Analysts at Jefferies called it a "Zuck U-Turn" in a research note to clients, saying the job cuts will boost profits while not impacting Meta's growth trajectory.

☆ After huge Meta layoffs, Mark Zuckerberg tells employees that he cut jobs more thoughtfully than Elon Musk at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After a terrible week for thousands of Meta employees, Mark Zuckerberg shared some heartening thoughts at a companywide meeting on Friday: At least we didn't mess up as much as Elon Musk did at Twitter. Musk cut roughly 3,700 workers via an unsigned email, after making many staff work most of the prior weekend. On Friday, the Meta CEO and other executives hosted a town hall meeting for remaining employees and answered their questions. The Q&A touched on Twitter, and Zuckerberg weighed in, according to people who attended. Contact Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@insider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice).

☆ Meta employees are shell-shocked and angry after Mark Zuckerberg laid off 11,000 workers. Remaining staff are still unsure exactly who got fired.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kali Hays | Rob Price | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Meta let go of 11,000 employees, and it's not clear which divisions and roles were most affected. Shortly before a somber video call with tens of thousands of employees on Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg hosted a smaller call with managers at Meta. Zuckerberg fielded questions from managers asking how laid-off employees were chosen and how long the plan had been in the works. "Class act as always," one departing employee said sarcastically of Zuckerberg's call for laid-off workers. "This will add up to a meaningful cultural shift in how we operate," Zuckerberg told remaining employees.

[1/3] Eliza Luna, a ballot designer with the Maricopa County Elections Department, counts ballots for the Arizona Presidential Preference Election at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., March 17, 2020. Between July 11 and Aug. 22, the county election office documented at least 140 threats and other hostile communications, the records show. Maricopa officials appeared at times overwhelmed by threatening posts on social media and right-wing message boards calling for workers to be executed or hung. Eight people face federal charges for threats, including two who targeted Maricopa County officials. The county election director had instructed him to shut down the server for delivery to the Arizona State Senate in response to a subpoena.

☆ Apple has touted its 'deliberate' hiring amid a tough economy, but insiders say widespread hiring freezes are in place for the year ahead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Reed Alexander | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has frozen hiring for roles across corporate divisions at the tech giant, three sources tell Insider. The company has said it will be "deliberate" with recruiting but has not acknowledged halting hires in some departments. Since the summer, Apple has touted its "deliberate" decisions about investment and hiring, including on its most recent quarterly earnings call last week. But three sources with close knowledge of conversations at the company told Insider it has paused almost all hiring. The second source, who has knowledge of multiple high-level conversations inside Apple, agreed that it's experiencing a hiring freeze.

☆ Exclusive emails show Austin officials bragging about its lack of oversight of a new self-driving delivery service from Ford and Argo AI
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Several cities launched an autonomous vehicle delivery service for Walmart orders with Ford vehicles using Argo AI's self-driving car technology. In 2016, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced Uber's self-driving car pilot by proclaiming that Arizona "welcomes Uber self-driving cars" while states with regulatory laws do not. Part of the companies' motivation for the self-driving car delivery service is the drive to meet Walmart's consumer demands for "next-day or same-day delivery." Argo AI was founded in 2016 by two former engineers from Google and Uber's self-driving car programs, respectively. Argo AI hired more than 1,700 people in 6 years but laid off many of its recruiters in July.

☆ Facebook said an Indian publication, The Wire, used faked documents in an investigation. Now the publication is taking the stories down. Here's a timeline of the escalating conflict.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Facebook claims a series of reports by an Indian news site, The Wire, were based on faked documents. On Tuesday, an expert The Wire used in a story denied publicly that he commented in any way to the publication. Stone responded on Twitter saying, "as it's been clear from the outset @thewire_in's stories are based on fabrications." Varadarajan wrote on Twitter that the email account The Wire uses, a protonmail.com address, had been "hacked via the hacking of a MacBook." Kumar of The Wire deactivated his Twitter account.

☆ Twitter 'official partner' Dataminr, which police used to monitor Black Lives Matter protests, will soon get a surveillance contract for the White House
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dataminr has a contract for surveilling social media and providing news alerts for the White House. Dataminr is in Twitter's official partner program, which gives it more access to Twitter data. Dataminr, one of Twitter's official partners, will soon get a new social-media-surveillance contract for the White House, according to a newly published government document. A contract justification document mentions that Dataminr would be used on a "Watch Floor," which refers to the watch floor of the White House Situation Room, Dataminr said. The DISA contract is the latest contract in Dataminr's controversial history.

☆ Salesforce has sold its tech to US Customs and Border Protection dozens of times in recent years, ignoring a history of employee protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-03 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce sold its tech to federal agencies through over 1,400 contracts in the past five years. Employees have protested Salesforce's work with CBP. Employees protested a Salesforce contract with CBP throughout summer 2018. Since then, the company has continued to work with agencies involved in immigration enforcement, as well as military agencies. Public-contract data shows that over the past five years, Salesforce has entered into at least 46 contracts with CBP.

☆ Salesforce has quietly become a giant government contractor, racking up over 1,400 deals with federal agencies in the last five years
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce has become a big software seller to the government, with over 1,400 contracts since 2017. Salesforce has become a prolific contractor with US government agencies, nearly quadrupling the number of government contracts it has engaged with in the past five years. The cloud-software giant has landed at least 1,443 contracts with government agencies since 2017. In comparison, Salesforce had engaged in only 363 government contracts between December 1, 2005, and September 1, 2017. All but two of these contracts were executed using third parties that sold its technology to government agencies.

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