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☆ Meta is cutting prices for its VR headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Meta is cutting prices for two of its virtual reality headsets as it continues trying to boost adoption for the nascent technology on which it has bet its future. The company announced Friday that it is slashing the price of its higher-end Meta Quest Pro headset by some $500, bringing its cost to $999, roughly six months after it was released. The Quest Pro price drop will take effect the same day in the United States and Canada and on March 15 in all other countries where it is sold. Facebook rebranded as Meta in late 2021 as it outlined a bold vision to build a future, immersive version of the internet called the “metaverse,” powered by VR technology. Meta lost $13.7 billion last year in its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its VR and metaverse efforts.

☆ Alphabet’s self-driving car unit has cut 8% of its staff this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Waymo, the self-driving car division of Google (GOOGL)’s parent company Alphabet, said on Wednesday that it has cut approximately 8% of its staff across two rounds of layoffs this year. Some 209 jobs were eliminated in total, after cuts in late January and another more recent round, the company confirmed on Wednesday. “We took a thoughtful approach and feel confident that we’re providing for each of these former teammates through this transition,” the company said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. Rising interest rates have also dried up the easy access to funding tech companies used to fuel ambitious projects and bets on the future. The cuts to Waymo highlight how even Alphabet’s most ambitious and high-profile long-term bets are not immune to its renewed focus on reining in costs.

☆ TikTok to set one-hour daily screen time limit by default for users under 18
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —TikTok announced Wednesday that every user under 18 will soon have their accounts default to a one-hour daily screen time limit, in one of the most aggressive moves yet by a social media company to prevent teens from endlessly scrolling. Teenage TikTok users will be able to turn off this new default setting, which will roll out in the coming weeks. The move comes after TikTok and other social media platforms have faced years of scrutiny over their impact on young users, including their potential to lead teens down harmful rabbit holes. TikTokKeenan added that if a teen decides to turn off this new default limit and spends more than 100 minutes on TikTok a day, they will be prompted to set a daily screen time limit for themselves. Parents will be able to filter videos with words or hashtags they don’t want to appear in their teen’s feed, set a custom daily screen time limit for their teen, and set a custom schedule to mute TikTok notifications sent to their teen.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg looks to ‘turbocharge’ Meta’s AI tools after viral success of ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Mark Zuckerberg said Meta is creating a new “top-level product group” to “turbocharge” the company’s work on AI tools, as it attempts to keep pace with a renewed AI arms race among Big Tech companies. In a Facebook post late Monday, Zuckerberg said the elite new group will initially be formed by pulling together teams across the company currently working on generative AI, the technology that underpins the viral AI chatbot, ChatGPT. Those AI features may include new Instagram filters as well as chat tools in WhatsApp and Messenger, he said. Generative AI tools are built on large language models that have been trained on vast troves of online data to create written and visual responses to user prompts. Already, both Microsoft and Google’s AI tools have run into controversies for producing some inaccurate or uncanny responses.

☆ Elon Musk is the richest person in the world again
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ A generation of high-profile women tech leaders have stepped aside. What’s next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The tech industry has now lost an entire generation of trailblazing women leaders and replaced them mostly with men. And in the wake of the pandemic, women leaders in corporate America more broadly are more likely than ever to quit, according to the most recent Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Now that she’s departing, Big Tech is facing a new reckoning over its failure to promote and support women leaders, and what this could mean for the next generation of women in the industry. “Without women in the C-suite who have come before them, it could make this transition period tougher for next generation women leaders,” Kray said. “I think that what she achieved and what she modeled will be something that will live on beyond the fact that now we don’t have a female Big Tech CEO.”

☆ Microsoft and Google promised to invest in these communities. Now they’re backtracking
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Hyosub Shin/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/ZUMA Press WireFacebook-parent Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and Snap have each shuttered offices or announced plans to cut back on real estate, according to recent corporate announcements, filings and local news reports. But residents also had cautious optimism about the benefits Microsoft promised to the community, according to Hope. Hope’s community isn’t alone in confronting the whiplash of Silicon Valley’s real estate pullback. An office sits vacant on October 27, 2022 in San Francisco, California. The US Census Bureau reports an estimated 35% of employees in San Francisco and San Jose continue to work from home.

☆ Is the iPhone's 'Made in India' era beginning as Apple breaks with China?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Apple was already making between 5% and 7% of its products in India. His comments come at a time when Foxconn (HNHPF), a top Apple supplier, is looking to expand its operations in India after suffering severe supply disruptions in China. For years, Apple had relied on a vast manufacturing network in China to mass produce iPhones, iPads and other popular products. China headaches mountBut the world’s most valuable company posted shockingly weak earnings this month, partly because of its recent problems in China. According to Counterpoint’s Pathak, India accounts for 16% of the global smartphone production, while China constitutes 70%.

☆ Yahoo to lay off 20% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ The way we search for information online is about to change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN Business —An entire generation of internet users has approached search engines the same way for decades: enter a few words into a search box and wait for a page of relevant results to emerge. Bing will not only provide a list of search results, but will also answer questions, chat with users and generate content in response to user queries. “We have even more exciting, AI-enabled innovations in the works that will change the way people search, work and play. These models are trained on vast troves of online data in order to generate compelling responses to user prompts. Microsoft and Google executives have acknowledged some of the potential issues with the new AI tools.

☆ Google’s AI chatbot Bard had an inaccurate response in public demo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Google’s much-hyped new AI chatbot tool Bard, which has yet to be released to the public, is already being called out for an inaccurate response it produced in a demo this week. Bard’s blunder highlights the challenge for Google as it races to integrate the same AI technology that underpins Microsoft-backed ChatGPT into its core search engine. In trying to keep pace with what some think could be a radical change spurred by conversational AI in how people search online, Google now risks upending its search engine’s reputation for surfacing reliable information. Like ChatGPT, Bard is built on a large language model, which is trained on vast troves of data online in order to generate compelling responses to user prompts. The executive said AI technology would pave the way for the “next frontier of our information products.”

☆ Google details plans to use AI in search results
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Google on Wednesday detailed plans to use artificial intelligence technology to radically change how people search for information online, one day after rival Microsoft announced a revamped version of Bing powered by AI. These tools are trained on vast troves of information online in order to generate compelling written responses to user prompts and queries. “As we look ahead, you could imagine how generative AI will enable people to interact with visual information in entirely new ways.”Phrabhakar Raghavan, an SVP at Google, details plans to bring the same technology that underpins Microsoft-backed ChatGPT directly into Google's search results. ChatGPT’s meteoric rise in popularity has reportedly prompted Google’s management to declare a “code red” situation for its core product: online search. The rise of AI-powered chatbots, and the incorporation of this technology into products like online search, could also carry risks.

☆ Uber reports ‘strongest quarter ever’ while the rest of Silicon Valley stalls
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Alibaba is launching an AI bot to rival ChatGPT, sending its shares up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Alibaba says it will launch its own ChatGPT-style tool, becoming the latest tech giant to jump on the chatbot bandwagon. It did not share details of when it would launch or what the application would be called. This week, Google (GOOGL) and Chinese search engine giant Baidu (BIDU) both unveiled plans to launch similar services of their own. Bard suffered an embarrassing setback this week, however, after producing an incorrect response during a public demonstration. The company is also investing billions of dollars in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

☆ Zoom will lay off 1,300 employees and CEO is taking a massive pay cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Google unveils its ChatGPT rival: Bard
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Baidu, the Chinese search engine giant, announces ChatGPT-style AI bot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese search engine giant Baidu says it will be launching its own ChatGPT-style service. It will launch a new artificial intelligence chatbot called “Wenxin Yiyan” in Chinese, or “Ernie Bot” in English, a spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. Baidu (BIDU) is currently testing the project internally and will likely roll out the service to users in March, the person said. The company did not provide further details, such as how the tool would look or whether it would appear as a feature within its popular search engine. Baidu’s AI investments can be seen as “both an offensive and defensive strategic move in China,” Daniel Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, told CNN.

☆ Is the Fed ignoring long Covid in its inflation fight?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But it’s premature to say that Covid is no longer an economic issue when long Covid has such a significant effect on America’s workforce, economists and health care officials say. Long Covid, which stems from a Covid-19 infection, is considered a chronic illness that is sometimes debilitating. As many as 30% of Americans, about 23 million people, develop long Covid after a Covid infection, said the US Department of Health and Human Services in November. “Long Covid has harmed the workforce,” said the report, compiled by the New York State Insurance Fund. Caregiving for those suffering from Covid or long Covid is also affecting the labor imbalance, said Giacomo Santangelo, an economics professor at Fordham University.

☆ Apple is the only US tech giant to have avoided significant layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —In less than three months, four of the big five US tech companies have cut tens of thousands of employees combined, shattering myths about the industry’s seemingly unstoppable growth in the process. Tom Forte, a senior research analyst at DA Davison, agreed there will be staff reductions, but likely not as drastic as those at other large tech companies. How Apple avoided layoffs, so farFueled by a surge in demand for digital products earlier in the pandemic, Big Tech went on a massive hiring spree. Inflation pinched consumer and business spending, and rising interest rates evaporated the easy money tech companies had tapped into. Like other Big Tech companies, it has faced threats of antitrust action in the United States and EU.

☆ PayPal will lay off 2,000 workers, or 7% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ This app lets Silicon Valley workers commiserate about layoffs in secret
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Blind members verify that they work at a particular company by signing up with a work email address. Now, Blind is filled with posts from workers comforting each other about how to get through periods of unemployment. (Some tech workers have also lamented the pay cut they’d have to take by switching industries.) “We just all realized that there’s a need for communication that is kind of independent of company control,” Kim said. While Blind is not exclusively for tech workers, it has become incredibly popular in the industry amid the recent turmoil.

☆ One news publication had an AI tool write articles. It didn’t go well
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The outlet has since hit pause on using the AI tool to generate stories, CNET’s editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo said in an editorial on Wednesday. The disclosure comes after CNET was previously called out publicly for quietly using AI to write articles and later for errors. Another correction suggests the AI tool plagiarized. Despite the issues, Guglielmo left the door open to resuming use of the AI tool. “We’ve paused and will restart using the AI tool when we feel confident the tool and our editorial processes will prevent both human and AI errors,” she said.

☆ Too many companies botch mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When it comes to mass layoffs, there seems to be no end to the worst, most bungled ways in which some employees first learn they are being let go. “People have to feel they’re being treated with respect,” said Sarah Rodehorst, CEO of Onwards HR, an offboarding technology platform for human resources, legal and finance teams. (Google declined to comment, pointing instead to a blog post from the CEO on the day of the layoffs.) Employees should receive a communication from the CEO or from division leadership that informs them layoffs will occur and offers them the business reasons for the decision. By “small,” Lee means no more than 5 to 10 people, including a leader or manager they know who delivers the news.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers walk out in first UK strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Amazon workers at a warehouse in central England went on strike Wednesday, the first time employees of the US tech giant have walked out in the country. Workers are asking for £15 ($18.49) an hour, which the GMB union said would be in line with pay at Amazon in the United States. Starting pay for warehouse workers in the United States averages over $19 an hour after the company’s latest raise in September. The strike comes as employees in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon has refused to formally recognize or bargain with the Amazon Labor Union, which was recently certified by regulators.

☆ Microsoft quarterly profit falls 12% but cloud computing business shows strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The tech giant reported revenue of $52.7 billion for the quarter, a modest 2% increase from the year prior but slightly less than analysts had expected. The earnings results come at a turbulent moment for Microsoft, and the tech industry as a whole. Microsoft said last week that it plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures. On Tuesday, Microsoft reported revenue declines from its Windows OEM operations and from its Xbox content and services lines. Revenue from its cloud computing division, a key area of focus for Microsoft in recent years, increased 22% from the prior year.

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