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☆ Leaked Microsoft research shows the market is embracing Bing and ChatGPT's potential to 'challenge Google's monopoly'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The study found positive market sentiment around Bing and ChatGPT's potential to challenge Google's search engine. The market "welcomes a change" and for Microsoft's Bing to potentially "level the playing field" with Google search, according to the study. Sprinklr, which analyzes online sentiment, studied a wide range of comments about Microsoft, its Bing search engine, ChatGPT, and Google. Many people see "ChatGPT + Bing as a 'threat' or 'challenge' to Google Search," it added. "Bing can leverage the power of ChatGPT for improved results and challenge Google's monopoly," the report, marked Microsoft Confidential, explained.

☆ Leaked Amazon memo shows it only wants to hire students and new grads for entry-level software roles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But middle managers could be the latest layoff target in tech, especially after Mark Zuckerberg's latest reported comments. Leaked Amazon memo reveals new hiring strategy. The e-commerce giant is only hiring students and new grads for entry-level software positions, per an internal note reviewed by Insider. More on Amazon's latest hiring strategy here. The latest people moves in tech:An Amazon Web Services exec who was accused of gender discrimination is leaving, according to leaked docs.

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just joined the company's earnings call for the first time ever and shared 4 of his top priorities: 'Each era is different'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy made his first ever appearance on the company's quarterly earnings call. "We'll continue to work really hard on being sharp on pricing," Jassy said. In the current economy, customers are "very conscious" about how much they're spending, Jassy said, which makes pricing an even more important factor for them. "We'll continue to work really hard on being sharp on pricing," Jassy said. "We will continue to work very hard on those customer experiences, and we have a lot more planned," Jassy said.

☆ Leaked emails show Amazon will only hire students and recent graduates for entry level software engineering positions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is limiting entry level software engineering positions to current students or newly grads. Amazon is only hiring current students or newly graduated people for its entry level software developer positions. August Aldebot Green, an Amazon spokesperson, told Insider, "Any implication that we have lowered our hiring bar is incorrect. Overhauling Amazon's engineering culture has been a priority for Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy. It also created a new team called "Amazon Software Builder Experience" to address those concerns.

☆ Microsoft is chill with employees using ChatGPT — just don’t share ‘sensitive data’ with it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft warned employees against sharing "sensitive data" with ChatGPT. Leaked internal communications revealed that Microsoft's CTO office told employees that using ChatGPT is fine. "Companies and employees are all scrambling to find out the exact rules around using ChatGPT for work." He added: "The interesting thing here is that Microsoft is a big partner and investor of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. In theory, Microsoft stands to gain when ChatGPT collects more data and improves its technology.

☆ Microsoft warns employees not to share 'sensitive data' with ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft's CTO office told staff they can use ChatGPT at work as long as they don't share "sensitive data." In response, a senior engineer from Microsoft's CTO office wrote that they were allowed, as long as employees don't share confidential information with the AI tool. "Human beings sign NDAs and consequently have incentives to be careful in how they share information. While employees are on the hook for protecting confidential data, it's not clear what exactly Microsoft or OpenAI are doing to address the issue. Is the responsibility on employees to not share sensitive information, or is the responsibility on OpenAI to use information carefully, or some combination?"

☆ Amazon has been trying to break into healthcare for years. Here's a look at everything it's done.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's focused on providing primary care and dispensing prescriptions through Amazon Pharmacy. It hasn't been smooth sailing, and the tech giant has shut down some projects. It hasn't been smooth sailing for every healthcare project. In August, it shut down Amazon Care, a big homegrown primary-care bet. Analysts think in 2023 Amazon will continue to build on its healthcare business through more acquisitions.

☆ Amazon employees are already using ChatGPT for software coding. They also found the AI chatbot can answer tricky AWS customer questions and write cloud training materials.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon employees are using ChatGPT in a number of different ways, internal Slack messages show. ChatGPT was able to answer AWS customer questions and write training documents. Additionally, ChatGPT was "great" at writing a troubleshooting guide for AWS Aurora database engineers, and answering "difficult" support questions, this employee wrote on Slack. A corporate attorney at Amazon told employees not to share confidential company information with ChatGPT, as Insider previously reported. The employee wrote it's likely because it's an "extremely advanced human cognitive task."

☆ An Amazon engineer asked ChatGPT interview questions for a software coding job at the company. The chatbot got them right.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ChatGPT got technical interview questions right, Amazon employee said in an internal Slack channel. Amazon is worried about employees sharing confidential company information with ChatGPT. The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot correctly answered some ofAmazon's interview questions for a software coding position, according to screenshots of a recent internal Slack channel discussion seen by Insider. This was one of many work-related ChatGPT topics discussed in the internal Slack channel last month, according to screenshots seen by Insider. An Amazon lawyer chimed in on Slack, warning employees not to share confidential information with ChatGPT.

☆ Amazon warns employees not to share confidential information with ChatGPT after seeing cases where its answer 'closely matches existing material' from inside the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

An Amazon lawyer warned employees about sharing confidential company information with ChatGPT. Others wondered if they were even allowed to use the AI tool for work. She warned employees not to provide ChatGPT with "any Amazon confidential information (including Amazon code you are working on)," according to a screenshot of the message seen by Insider. Overall, Amazon employees in the Slack channel were excited about the potential of ChatGPT, and wondered if Amazon was working on a competing product. For Amazon employees, data privacy seems to be the least of their concerns.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google announced layoffs of a total of 40,000 employees this week. Tech companies embarked on a massive hiring spree as the Covid-era made their products the backbone of the world's remote-working offices. The era of tech companies spending like rock stars is overOver the last decade Big Tech companies spent money "like 1980's rock stars," wrote Dan Ives, managing director at the investment firm Wedbush . On the other end, tech companies may look much different this decade as they did in the last. As companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft cut costs, they'll find ways to operate leaner, and their stock prices will stabilize.

☆ Amazon is shutting down its charity program amid massive companywide layoffs, claiming its 'ability to have an impact was often spread too thin'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon announced that it would "wind down" its AmazonSmile program in February. "After almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped," the email read. "With so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin." Amazon plans to fully close the program by February 20 and focus its philanthropic efforts elsewhere, per the email. Through the program, Amazon shoppers could visit smile.amazon.com allocate 0.5% of their purchase to a participating organization of their choice for no extra charge.

☆ Microsoft layoffs show that no tech company is safe to work at right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Wednesday, Amazon started its largest round of layoffs in company history after giving employees the heads up that they were coming two weeks earlier. I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and today, we dive into why all Big Tech employees are at risk of losing their jobs. Microsoft's layoffs proves that there is no such thing as a safe tech company to work at right now. The list of tech layoffs is long: Facebook, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, Salesforce, Microsoft, and more. The SVP of People Experience and Technology sent two missives on the first official days of Amazon layoffs.

☆ Leaked documents show Amazon paused activities like social marketing and recruiting 'out of respect' for laid off employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has suspended a number of work activities or services on Wednesday amid layoffs. Amazon suspended several work activities and services on Wednesday to be more mindful of the employees let go as part of the company's largest layoff in history. Additionally, Amazon suspended some AWS content streams on Twitch, another person said. Amazon will also pause some recruiting activities on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Still, many Amazon employees were upset about the ambiguity and lack of communication in the overall layoff process.

☆ Read the emails Amazon's HR and retail bosses sent to employees as its largest layoff in company history starts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Amazon's HR and retail bosses sent out the following emails to employees on Wednesday. In response, Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti and most senior retail executive Doug Herrington sent out the following emails to their respective teams. I understand how difficult this news is for our entire team, especially for those employees who are directly impacted. Notification emails will be sent out to impacted employees shortly, and we expect all notifications in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica to be completed by end of the day today. Although other companies might have balked at the short-term economics, we prioritized investing for customers and employees during these unprecedented times.

☆ Amazon's Prime membership program stopped growing in the US for the first time ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon's Prime membership may have even fallen last year, according to new estimates by CIRP. The research firm tracks the number of individuals using Amazon Prime, rather than total paying households. "Prime membership has essentially stopped growing in the US, after many years of extremely fast growth, and then modest growth in the last two or three years," CIRP said. Amazon doesn't publicly disclose the exact size of its Prime membership program. In 2021, Amazon's then-CEO Jeff Bezos said it had "more than 200 million Prime members worldwide."

☆ Leaked Amazon screenshots show employees scrambling to identify teams affected by layoffs. Here's a list of more than 35 groups getting cuts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In an internal Slack channel, Amazon staff shared team names and job levels to add clarity to the process. As Amazon began the largest layoffs in company history on Wednesday, an internal Slack channel blew up with employees sharing details about the job cuts. The layoffs-related Slack channel has over 37,000 members. "It's been moving so fast, I can't keep up with scrolling," another person told Insider about the Slack channel. Many employees in the Slack channel expressed shock and surprise.

☆ As Amazon conducts its largest layoff, its HR boss sent another email to employees urging 'support and care' for those laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Beth Galetti, Amazon's HR boss, sent an email asking employees to show support for those affected. As Amazon embarked on the largest layoffs in company history, HR boss Beth Galetti urged employees to show support for each other. In her email, Galetti reiterated that most of the layoffs will affect the retail division (Amazon Stores) and HR (People Experience and Technology). Conversations with impacted employees took place around the world today, and this morning, Pacific Time, notification messages were sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

☆ Amazon employees learned they were laid off by email, not a face-to-face with managers or HR. Read the email they were sent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon notified laid-off employees by email only, not face-to-face meetings, multiple sources said. Amazon started reaching out to laid-off employees on Wednesday by email as the company embarked on the largest job cuts in company history. Employees were individually notified just by email, not by face-to-face meetings with their respective managers or with human resources personnel, according to five people who spoke to Insider. Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti told employees on Wednesday that those affected will soon have meetings with their leaders, as Insider previously reported. Access to internal email, Chime, and AtoZ will be available on your non-Amazon device throughout the remainder of your tenure.

☆ Amazon employees think the company is lowering the bar with a streamlined interview process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This is Matt Weinberger, deputy editor of Insider's tech analysis team, filling in once again for your regular captain Diamond Naga Siu. Stop me if you've heard this one: Amazon walks into a bar... But seriously folks, my colleague Eugene Kim reports on a big, meaningful change in the online retail giant's hiring process. Some employees think so, Insider's Eugene Kim reports. He says that "current and former bar raisers I talked to were not too happy about this decision and were concerned about its potential to drag down Amazon's hiring bar."

☆ Amazon is quietly streamlining its hiring process by dropping its 'Bar Raiser' program for some interviews. Employees worry it's lowering the quality of candidates getting jobs at the company.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

By abandoning the bar raiser for some mostly entry-level positions, Amazon shortened the hiring process and was able to hire more aggressively. In January 2021, for example, a group of bar raisers complained about the small number of bar raisers relative to the total employee base, and the lack of engagement from many of them. Current Bar raisers are overworked and disengagedOthers expressed concerns about overwhelmed or disengaged bar raisers causing a potential drop in talent at Amazon. One person in the 2021 email thread said "Amazon's hiring bar was at stake" if the bar raisers failed to live up to company standards. Amazon's HR chief Beth Galetti said Amazon's hiring bar "keeps getting higher and higher" and that "keeps all of us growing and evolving every day."

☆ Inside Amazon, there's chatter, and jokes, about Jeff Bezos coming back as CEO in the midst of massive layoffs and a plummeting stock price
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Eugene Kim | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some Amazon employees are calling for Jeff Bezos to return as CEO. Some Amazon employees are calling for the return of founder Jeff Bezos as CEO in the midst of massive layoffs and a plunging stock price. "Apparently not even Andy is safe," one employee wrote, referring to Jassy who took over from Bezos as CEO in July 2021. "He should come…he is the best," another employee wrote, referring to Bezos. In the turkey-themed email, viewed by Insider, the CEO acknowledged challenges, thanked Amazon employees, and called for resilience and optimism.

☆ Amazon will take years to recover from a warehouse overbuilding binge during the pandemic. In 2022, it still added a third of Walmart's total capacity.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The company scaled back warehouse expansion last year in the face of an economic downturn. Amazon grew its warehouse footprint by 125 million square feet in 2020 and 137 million square feet in 2021, Wulfraat estimated. Amazon currently uses about 65% of its total warehouse capacity, lower than the 85% levels from 2019, Wulfraat estimated. That's because Amazon over-expanded in recent years, with warehouse growth "materially" outpacing product sales growth, he said. The company saved up to $4 billion last year when it scaled back warehouse expansion plans, according to Wulfraat.

☆ Leaked documents show Amazon's seller lending business is booming. But the company's economists are worried about defaulters.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon economists expect its seller lending volume to roughly double this year. Amazon's lending business has rebounded in recent years after scaling back during COVID. Amazon's lending program is part of a broader business to business payments and lending team, known internally as ABPL. The company's economists are forecasting that third-party sellers will owe it over $2 billion over the next year, according to internal document obtained by Insider. The potential growth in loans signals a continued rebound of Amazon's lending business.

☆ 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.

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