Tech Brew Ride Home Fri. 01/20 – Alphabet’s Monster Layoffs
Jan 20, 2023
Alphabet announces massive layoffs to refocus on AI competition with OpenAI. Twitter clamps down on third-party clients amidst ongoing controversies. Netflix undergoes executive shifts as its co-founder steps down. Genesis files for bankruptcy, raising eyebrows in the crypto world. Meanwhile, the podcast dives into the surprising design flaws of pizza boxes and how they ruin your slice. A dynamic discussion unfolds on Amazon's shift towards advertising and its impact on user experience.
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Alphabet Layoffs
- Alphabet (Google's parent) is laying off 12,000 employees, over 6% of its workforce.
- CEO Sundar Pichai cites the need to re-engineer costs and focus on AI.
Mass Tech Layoffs
- This week, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet laid off 18,000, 11,000, and 12,000 employees, respectively.
- Apple is the only FAANG company that has not announced layoffs yet.
Twitter Bans Third-Party Clients
- Twitter updated its developer agreement to ban third-party clients.
- This move seemingly contradicts Twitter's initial claim of enforcing long-standing API rules.