All articles tagged with #tech industry
Salesforce cut fewer than 1,000 roles across marketing, product, and data teams, including positions tied to its Agentforce AI product, as part of a broader executive shake-up that added six new leaders to replace five departing executives since December.
The Washington Post reports that tech giants’ hundreds of billions poured into AI are diverting labor, electrical capacity, and materials from other sectors, causing electrician shortages, construction delays, and higher smartphone prices, and risking slower non-AI innovation.
Laid-off workers at companies like Microsoft, Intel, and Amazon question whether AI caused their job cuts or simply funded automation efforts. While some see AI as a driver of productivity and cost-cutting, others attribute the moves to broader business priorities; analysts say AI’s impact on employment is not yet clear, but many former employees are pivoting by building AI skills to stay competitive in a leaner, automation-driven job market.
Silicon Valley executives and investors have channeled about $3.3 million into a committee backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for California governor, a critical boost as he tries to close a wide gap in a crowded, high-spend race. The independent expenditure group includes $1 million gifts from Michael Seibel and Marc Merrill (and $500,000 from Neil Mehta) and has booked considerable airtime, underscoring tech industry influence in California politics ahead of the June 2 primary.
Bitcoin trades under $64,000, down more than 50% from its October peak and lower than its level when Trump was elected, as the crypto sector endures a fresh downturn with Gemini layoffs, Strategy reporting multibillion-dollar losses, stalled industry-friendly legislation in Congress, and ongoing tech-market headwinds despite some White House support.
Amazon announced 16,000 job cuts—about 9% of its corporate workforce—as part of a broader wave of tech layoffs. The company says the reductions aim to flatten the organization and speed decision‑making, and it insists AI isn’t the sole driver, even as rivals like Microsoft and Meta also trimmed staff. The move sits within a long pattern of industry pivots, with past giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco retooling around software, services, and cloud as technology reshapes business models.
Amazon is cutting about 16,000 roles to streamline its structure, a move that reverberates through the economy and tightens the job market for workers and partners in the tech sector.
Tech leaders faced renewed tension with Trump after a Minneapolis shooting, with Tim Cook and Andy Jassy pictured at a White House event with Trump while others in Silicon Valley criticized his immigration policy, highlighting growing frustration among tech executives.
More than 800 US tech workers sign a petition urging tech CEOs to pressure the Trump administration to remove ICE agents from U.S. cities and cancel ICE contracts, citing the killing of nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis; while some tech leaders have previously influenced ICE policy, it remains unclear whether major CEOs will act now.
Luke Plunkett argues that paid AI services (like $20/month for ChatGPT or Grok) expose a gulf between billionaire investors and ordinary users, criticizing Min-Liang Tan’s defense of subscriptions and highlighting how such costs can be meaningful for everyday people amid the AI hype.
Nvidia unveiled its new AI data center platform, Vera Rubin, which aims to address the increasing demands of AI models and is set to launch in late 2026. The company is positioning itself as a leader in AI infrastructure amidst growing industry competition and significant investments in AI technology, with major cloud providers and AI labs expected to adopt the new system.
Shares of leading memory chipmakers surged due to a global supply shortage driven by high demand for AI infrastructure, with prices more than doubling in some segments and analysts predicting the supercycle could last into 2027.
AI startups are challenging Google in the web browser market, aiming to reshape how users interact with the internet through innovative technologies.
Communities across the U.S. are increasingly opposing the construction of large data centers due to environmental, economic, and quality of life concerns, leading to numerous proposals being blocked or delayed despite significant industry investments and support from higher levels of government.
A report suggests that Apple's AI strategy may start to show significant results by 2026, indicating a potential breakthrough in their artificial intelligence initiatives.