Silicon Valley Bank is officially gone.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has decided to break up the commercial bank, and will hold two auctions to sell both SVB’s traditional deposits unit and its private bank.

The bank failed on March 10 amid a tightening tech economy, but the FDIC was seeking a buyer for it last week. Now that it hasn’t found one, auctions are the next step.

What Killed SVB?

Until this month, SVB was the 16th largest bank in the US and Silicon Valley’s number-one largest bank, at least by deposits. At the end of 2022, regulators says, SVB held $209 billion in assets plus $175 billion in deposits.

So how did it collapse? Well, the long explanation would take too long, but the short one is that all banks work by getting funds through deposits and giving funds through loans. SVB was a popular bank for startups and venture funding. Across the last few years, startups in general had a lot of liquidity — IPOs, venture capital investments, acquisitions, and other fundraising activities were booming — so they made a lot of deposits.

But then interest rates started to rise sharply, and investors started wanting to have money now rather than in the far future. This made startups, which tend to burn money now in order to possibly make ten times more in a decade or two, look like a bad investment. And since SVB wasn’t making as many bets on credit through loans, it was making more bets on interest rates through securities, and higher interest rates hurt it there, too.

When SVB sold a portfolio of securities to Goldman Sachs at a $1.8 billion loss, it spooked its startups, who then triggered a run on the bank, just like that one scene in It’s a Wonderful Life.

How Are People Responding to SVB Collapse?

High interest rates tend to hurt frothier industries, which is a term that could accurately describe the last decade of technology businesses. Since SVB bet big on startups, it was hurt more than other banks were by the industry’s belt-tightening.

But many are arguing that the bank’s trigger-happy clients are really to blame for the lender’s collapse, since none of them were willing to wait out the crisis and instead made it worse:

A bunch of replies are arguing this is unfair to VCs but @matt_levine already covered this with an excellent comparison to what's happening with First Republic.

VCs basically failed the game of prisoner's dilemma and have now hurt their ecosystem while bankers are being smarter. pic.twitter.com/smnd2KlIro

— Dare Obasanjo🐀 (@Carnage4Life) March 20, 2023

Whoever is to blame, the outcome is that the FDIC is essentially stripping the failed bank for funds to go towards paying back investors.

It is now seeking bids for Silicon Valley Private Bank from now until March 22, and will seek bids for the bridge bank (which holds assets and deposits) another few days, until March 24.

The Magic Kingdom might be losing a magic 4,000 jobs, according to a new report that says Disney is considering another round of layoffs for April 2023.

Disney previously slimmed its workforce by 7,000 positions in February, but the entertainment conglomerate doesn’t appear to be impervious to the tech world’s ongoing second rounds of layoffs.

If the new report proves true, Disney is joining Meta and Amazon, both of which have recently announced thousands of jobs soon to be cut, and all of whom have now issued two large rounds of layoffs in recent months.

Disney Aims to Save $5.5 Billion

The report, first covered by Business Insider, won’t clear up everything: We still don’t know if the layoffs will be arriving in batches or all at once, for instance.

But according to Insider, Disney has already directed its managers to plan out budget cuts and put together lists of employees to be laid off. It’s all part of CEO Bob Iger’s plan to eventually reach $5.5 billion in spending cuts — the same longterm goal that the first round of cuts was pushing toward.

In addition to the estimated 4,000 employees that will be trimmed, Disney expects more cuts to come from open roles, the report says.

Disney’s Future Plans

Igor has a sweeping plan to restructure Disney.

The entertainment giant is currently doing a lot of things he doesn’t like: Following his initial February call with investment analysts in which he first announced his plans to cut $5.5 billion in costs, Igor has said that Disney charges too much for theme parks, that it doesn’t charge enough for its streaming service, that Marvel makes too many sequels as opposed to original character introductions, and that he might sell Disney’s stake in Hulu.

All these plans to shake up the Disney model help to set these new job cuts apart from the rest of the tech world.

We’ve covered plenty of massive layoffs at the biggest tech companies in the past few months, and most of them tend to stick to opaque buzzwords. Amazon likes calling the economy “uncertain,” while Meta says it’s aiming for “efficiency.” Disney, however, is changing how it operates.

Will that be enough to boost efficiency amid an uncertain economy? Well, it has worked out for the entertainment company in the past.

Amazon is cutting 9,000 jobs, CEO Andy Jassy has announced in a memo.

The new layoffs are in addition to a lengthy round of job cuts that spanned from November of last year to this January and impacted a total of 18,000 people.

It’s yet another deep cut to a rapidly consolidating industry, and just the latest sign that the tech business is no longer booming.

Amazon Reduces Web Services and Ad Divisions

The 9,000 jobs will be lost across four divisions of the sprawling ecommerce company, Jassy says: cloud tech division Amazon Web Services, gaming division Twitch, advertising, and human resources.

Previous cuts have already reduced the company’s more experimental divisions including staffers at the company’s physical retail stores, as well as trimming the general headcount.

Now, however, the cuts are hitting some of Amazon’s core business models. Amazon Web Services generated revenues of about $80 billion in 2022 alone, while the company reported $37.7 billion in advertising services worldwide during the same year.

Amazon Says It Is “Uncertain” About the Future

The reasoning behind the new job cuts is identical to the previous reasons given for the previous cuts. Early in January, he cited the “uncertain economy,” and his new blog post announcing the latest round of cuts this week again notes the “uncertain economy.”

Here’s how he phrases it:

“However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount.”

He also notes that the company didn’t announce the two rounds of cuts at the same time because their analysts were still working on the issue… and he notes that they remain working on it. The apparent implication is that a third round of job cuts may be in the future.

The Tech Industry Layoffs

Tech companies have been on an employee-reduction spree for more than a few months, and the timing behind Amazon’s huge 9,000-job layoff means that it isn’t even the biggest one this month. Just last week, Facebook parent company Meta laid off 10,000 people, adding to the then-unprecedented 11,000 employees it had laid off in November.

Many others have joined since: We’ve tracked all the biggest tech layoffs across 2022 and this year, with big names including Salesforce, Twitter, Tesla, Dell, Shopify, Microsoft, Netflix, and others.

Interestingly, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg used his own reoccurring phrase in the announcement for Meta’s last round of layoffs, repeating a version of the word “efficiency” about 20 times. CEOs like Zuckerberg and Jassy may not have exhaustive explanations for their company’s actions, but they do have memorable ones.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Report reveals that organizations that provide critical infrastructure for the United States were hit 860 times by ransomware attacks throughout 2022.

A myriad of different ransomware gangs are to blame, with some scripts being used over 100 times to attack healthcare, financial services, and telecommunications providers that the United States considers vital to its national economic security.

With ransomware attacks and data breaches only becoming more common, it’s important you equip your business with antivirus software, and train your staff to spot phishing attacks.

Ransomware Gangs Target Critical US Companies

In 2022, there were 870 different complaints made to the Internet Crime Complaint Center relating to 860 ransomware incidents, the Internet Crime Report details.

The FBI expects the real number of ransomware attacks to hit critical infrastructure to be much higher than that figure, however, as not all incidents are reported.

Lockbit ransomware was used 149 times in these attacks, while ALPHV/BlackCat was used 114 times, and Hive ransomware a total of 87 times.

Ragnar Locker ransomware breached at least 52 organizations deemed critical, while Cuba ransomware hit 49 U.S. entities, and BlackByte ransomware featured in three different attacks.

Sectors Targeted the Most by Ransomware

Out of all the industries that provide critical infrastructure, healthcare was hit the hardest by ransomware attacks, with 210 reported throughout 2022, almost a quarter of the total.

157 targeted critical manufacturing, while government facilities were on the receiving end of 115 ransomware attacks. Information technology (107), financial services (88) and commercial facilities (58) were also among the highest target.

Organizations that deal with energy, communications, and transportation were hit a combined 64 times by threat actors.

Protecting Your Company from Ransomware Attacks

There are various steps you can take to better prepare your company – and employees – for ransomware attacks.

Antivirus software, for example, is a must-have, and now many providers offer specific features that are included to prevent ransomware from wreaking havoc.

However, password managers are a crucial too, as these will make your employee’s account credentials much more robust to other kinds of cyber attacks.

Importantly though, training staff so they can spot the warning signs of a suspicious email, and know how to respond in the event of a ransomware attack, is equally as important, as is ensuring all of your software is up to date.

An internal Amazon staff FAQ session strongly indicates that the company is going to approach enforcing its back-to-office mandate with little flexibility.

Amazon’s decision to require corporate workers to attend their assigned office a minimum of three times a week sparked outrage when it was announced last month, and the responses from the corporate will likely add fuel to the fire.

The return-to-work policy refers to corporate employees only – Amazon has around 300,000 of them on its payroll, many of whom have been dialing in to virtual meetings for the past three years.

Amazon: Return to the Office, and Relocate If Necessary

The internal FAQ, seen by The Business Journals, consisted of 28 questions in total – including one querying whether workers who lived significant distances from their assigned office still need to make their way in after the mandate has started.

In response to the question, Amazon said that it will be “allowing employees extra time until you can relocate back to [their] assigned area or transferring to another team near your location.” Both options have the capacity to cause major disruption to individual employees, who will be anxiously awaiting April 14, which is when they find out precisely where they’ve been assigned.

Many staff members have complained about the date a company Slack channel created by employees who wanted to air their grievances relating to the policy, which they say is way too late to be telling them.

Amazon Managers Told to Bring Teams Back Together

Another response revealed that Amazon wants its managers “to work towards having as many of their team members together in one physical location as possible”.

This effectively makes it part of an Amazon manager’s role to bring teams that have moved apart since the pandemic back together, another signal that there’s going to be little wiggle room for employees who want to circumvent the policy.

What’s more, remote-working exceptions for specific individuals – which used to simply need managerial approval – will now have to be signed off by the board.

Amazon’s Return to Office Policy: Unnecessarily Stringent?

There are aspects of Amazon’s return-to-office mandate that make it seem a little bit like a mandate for mandate’s sake.

For example, employees are expected to report to their assigned offices even if they are the only members of their team reporting to any given location.

This seems excessive when you consider that virtually every employee will have access to video conferencing software and a sufficient internet connection.

Returning to the office can have its benefits, but forcing competent employees who have up until this point performed commendably in their roles (well enough, at least, for the company not to lay them off) into the office won’t improve already souring relationships between managers and the rest of the company.

OpenAI has just released GPT-4, the latest iteration of the artificial intelligence language model that powers ChatGPT.

OpenAI founder Sam Altman has called GPT-4 the company’s “most capable and aligned model yet”.  It can now understand image and text inputs, ace complex exams and even build a website from scratch with only basic instructions.

But how does GPT-4 differ from ChatGPT-3.5 and other AI tools, and is it really that much more intelligent? We take a closer look.

GPT-4: A New Look Lanugage Model

GPT-4 is a newer, more powerful version of GPT-3.5, and can take inputs of up to 20,000 words at once.

Impressively, in a demo that took place on Tuesday, GPT-4 was able to explain was able to build a website based on a basic hand-drawn sketch provided by a human. It also proved capable of answering complex tax-related questions, but “hallucinations” – where the model simply serves a false response to a query because it doesn’t know the answer – admittedly still occur.

The multimodal AI model is not available to the general public just yet, although it’s currently being trialed by a corporation called Be My Eyes, a Danish mobile app that provides support for visually impaired people.

GPT-4 is also available today for ChatGPT Plus users, while some of OpenAI’s commercial partners already have GPT-4-powered features, such as Duolingo’s “Explain my Answer” (pictured below) and “Roleplay” tools now available to paid subscribers of the service.

How does ChatGPT-4 Differ to ChatGPT-3.5?

OpenAI says that, all things considered, “GPT-4 is more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5.”

According to the artificial intelligence lab, GPT-4 “passed a simulated bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers”, whereas GPT-3.5 scored within the bottom 10% of test takers.

GPT-4 is also significantly better at enforcing its own content moderation policy than other OpenAI models, responding to disallowed content requests 82% less frequently than ChatGPT-3.5.

As you can see from the test results below (image credit: OpenAI), GPT-4 outperforms GPT-3.5 in a number of key tests OpenAI run on their language models:

Using AI in the Workplace

The launch of GPT-4 will be welcomed by the increasingly large list of businesses already using AI in the workplace, most notably ChatGPT.

Though ChatGPT can’t manage projects or conduct a meeting just yet, new business-related use cases are popping up all the time – and in all sorts of industries.

“I use ChatGPT to generate Excel spreadsheet formulas,” senior SEO executive Amy told Tech.co. “When I’ve tried to find Excel formulas on Google, often, the results are not specific enough to what I’m trying to accomplish.”

“I can ask ChatGPT for specifics and explain exactly what I’m looking for in a more detailed way – I can’t do that with Google” she added.

GPT-3.5 is already helping employees all over the world claw back valuable time and energy, and it looks like GPT-4 will be even better equipped to provide cogent responses to inputs for businesses once it becomes generally available.

AI-powered fleet software startup Fairmatic has just raised $46 million in a Series B funding round led by Battery Ventures. The company, which using AI to create more accurate risk profiles of business vehicles for insurance purposes, now has total funding of $88 million.

In 2023, rising inflation has boosted insurance rates, and those higher rates are driving fleets to look into cost-cutting measures.

That puts Fairmatic in a great position to grow, since all of its value hinges on powering more accurate insurance decisions with AI tracking tools. If your fleet is safe enough, the argument goes, your insurance rates will drop.

Will Your Fleet Save Money With AI Risk Profiles?

Fairmatic works by tracking drivers with an app that monitors driving “events,” from erratic driving to harsh breaking. It identifies ways to improve, and it submits claims as well, automatically detecting crash incidents and analyzing data.

Keeping drivers safe is a top-three concern for any fleet, Tech.co’s research team has learned, and for good reason: Distracted driving is a big problem. 14% of fatal crashes involve the use of cell phones, and this is nearly as large an issue in the business world as it is for drivers who are off the clock.

But AI isn’t a foolproof way to save money on insurance, even if investors will provide $88 million for it. The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), TechCrunch notes, has found that any AI trained on biased data will replicate any discrimination found in that data.

Staying Safe With a Fleet

Fairmatic isn’t the only fleet software to benefit from AI-powered tools. Fleet management systems, or FMS, offer one-stop-shops for all of a fleet’s driver and vehicle tracking needs. Many of them include AI tools, though these are typically on the providers’ higher-end plans.

Our researchers have noted Lytx as the best FMS for AI safety tools specifically, thanks to its “machine vision” tools which are designed to address distracted driving when it happens, while generating video evidence to go along with any harsh driving events.

One of our top-rated overall FMS solutions, Samsara, also includes an AI-powered “Camera ID” tool, which allows dash cams to speed up dispatching by learning to recognize drivers by their faces. And since Samsara starts at an industry-typical $27 per vehicle per month, it’s an example of how AI’s benefits don’t have to cost a bundle and have benefits that can extend beyond insurance.

The US government has given TikTok an ultimatum of sorts, according to the social video platform: The Biden administration has said it will potentially ban the platform nationwide if the app’s Chinese owners do not divest their stakes.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a business with 20% of its shares owned by its employees and 20% by its founders. Both of those groups live in China, and the US doesn’t like that.

This most recent news is the most extreme reaction yet, but far from the only one. Just this month, two US senators introduced new legislation aimed at giving the government the power it needs to “ban or prohibit” foreign-owned tech platforms, with TikTok at the top of the list.

This new order comes from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the same government group that pushed for the same ban under the Trump administration.

Will TikTok Be Banned?

China’s foreign ministry as already responded to the news, Reuters reports, saying that the US has not yet given any evidence that TikTok threatens national security.

TikTok has another point to make: According to the platform, even assuming national security is an issue, forcing Bytedance to divest won’t solve the problem. From TikTok’s statement:

“If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access”

This doesn’t seem like empty saber-rattling, if the previous government actions are any indicator: The White House recently decreed that government agencies can’t have TikTok on federal devices. At the state level, TikTok has been banned as well. More than 30 states won’t let their employees use TikTok on government-owned devices.

TikTok’s Muddy History With the US

The US’s two-party system often disagrees on big topics, but fear of China’s power on the world stage doesn’t appear to be one of them: The previous Trump administration also took a dim view of TikTok and for the same reasons as the Biden administration.

Across 2020, the CFIUS set multiple deadlines requiring TikTok to divest from ByteDance. Trump signed an August 2020 executive order to ban TikTok, which was blocked in court. It hadn’t yet been resolved when Biden recinded the order in June 2021.

Now, Biden is back to mulling over a ban. It’s a lot of back-and-forth and throat-clearing, but there’s no denying that the US is suspicous of the app, no matter who’s in charge of the country.

As ChatGPT continues to make ripples across the business landscape, Google is introducing its own generative AI capabilities to its docs and mail platforms to catch up with developments being made by Microsoft 365.

Among the company’s new suite of tools include a “first draft feature” which allows Google Workspace users to generate a customizable outline on any topic they choose, and an “I’m feeling lucky” option which helps Gmail users switch up the tone of their message.

ChatGPT-like technology is already being deployed by companies like Snapchat and Salesforce, but Google’s new generative AI features are set to make the software more accessible than ever. Here’s everything you need to know about Google Workplace’s new toolkit, including how it weighs up to Microsoft’s ChatGPT-driven solutions.

New AI Features Are Being Rolled Out Across Google Docs and Gmail

Less than two months after Microsoft pledged to invest a further $10 billion into ChatGPT technology, Google is ramping up its upping its stakes in generative AI by introducing a range of smart features to a number of its platforms.

According to a recent blog post by Google, the most notable changes will be coming to its Google Docs and Gmail apps, including Google’s new “first draft” feature that allows users to create customizable drafts on any topic they choose, from “job descriptions” to “pirate-themed birthday parties”. Aside from helping users get started with writing, it can also be used to refine and edit text to streamline the writing process further.

“We’re now making it possible for Workspace users to harness the power of generative AI to create, connect, and collaborate like never before.” – Blog post by Google

Another key development is Google’s new “rewrite” capability. For users struggling to strike the right tone, this feature lets users “formalize”, “elaborate”, “shorten”, and “bulletize” their content to fit their desired purpose. Gmail users can even hit the platform’s “I’m feeling lucky” button to try out a new playful voice, marking a pretty major breakthrough for the app.

These features are part of a broader effort Google is taking to invest in generative AI technology, with the tech giant releasing similar features for its Google Meets platform and creating its own AI chatbot Bard just last month.

However, with one of Google’s biggest competitors, Microsoft recently launching a slew of intelligent solutions using ChatGPT’s own technology, how do the company’s smart features compare?

Google’s and Microsoft’s Generative AI Race Intensifies

Microsoft’s ties to OpenAI can be traced back to 2019 when the software firm initially invested $1 billion in the lab. Since then, Microsoft has expanded this partnership further, introducing the natural language technology to a range of ventures from its search engine Bing to its workplace collaboration suite Microsoft 365.

Put simply, this investment is paying off. After launching its new ChatGPT-backed search engine Microsoft saw its daily users surge to 100 million – directly challenging Google’s search hegemony. Microsoft 365 users are benefiting from this smart technology too, with the software provider recently launching a number of advanced features to Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Despite Google’s new smart Workplace features, the company’s AI offering is still on the back foot, with its own chatbot alternative Bard recently attracting embarrassment after failing to answer a simple question during a live demonstration.

So, as Microsoft doubles down on its commitment to generative AI, and an increasing number of companies streamline practices with tools like ChatGPT, the pressure is on Google to close the gap.

As the tech sector continues to weather economic headwinds, Apple has reportedly decided to slow down its hiring efforts and postpone handing out promotions and bonuses to existing staff.

The world’s most valuable company is also reportedly keeping a close eye on travel spending and office attendance, as part of an effort to be more “prudent and thoughtful on spending”.

Unlike Meta, which has just announced 10,000 more job cuts, these actions have been taken to reduce how many workers the company let go. However, as demands for certain Apple products slump, it’s uncertain whether Apple will be able to avoid layoffs further down the line.

Apple Extends Hiring Freeze and Delays Payouts For Existing Staff

Apple has announced a series of cost-cutting measures to remain economically viable, as tech stocks continue to tumble and the industry deals with one of its biggest downturns in years.

According to sources in Bloomberg, one of Apple’s major belt-tightening measures involves extending its hiring freeze, which was first implemented back in 2022. This temporary pause on recruiting will now apply to other areas of the company and will suspend hiring for new roles as well as keep vacancies open when workers choose to leave.

Aside from hiring adjournments, Apple is also postponing handing out gratuity to its existing employees. Specifically, the iPhone manufacturer has decided to push back issuing bonuses and promotions from April to October in most corporate divisions, changing it from a bi-annual to an annual practice.

“We’re being very prudent and thoughtful on spending, and we continue to be very deliberate when it comes to hiring.” – Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO

As part of Apple’s CEO Tim Cooks’ vision to be more prudent and thoughtful when it comes to spending, he’s also requiring the company’s senior vice president to sign off on all travel budgets and is doubling down on the company’s three-day-a-week mandate by scrutinizing office attendance.

But changes aren’t just affecting current and prospective staff members. In January of this year, Tim Cook himself requested a pay cut of 40% this year, reducing his annual total compensation to $49 million.

How Long Can Apple Avoid Making Cuts?

As the tech industry continues to be squeezed by escalating inflation rates and the aftermath of the pandemic boom, major firms – from Google to Amazon – have been forced to axe headcounts to remain buoyant.

Yet, as layoffs in the sector exceed 130,000 so far Apple has been able to curb the trend, in part due to its ability to successfully drive up efficiency and productivity and in part due to its profitable business model, which has allowed it to secure a smartphone market share of 48%.

However, even as Apple’s net worth exceeds an eye-watering $3 trillion, solidifying its position as the world’s most valuable company, it may not be able to avoid layoffs forever.

According to Fortune, despite relatively healthy forecasts, Apple’s revenue declined by 5% over the holiday quarter as demands for Macs and wearable devices wave. As a result, Apple decided was forced to cut a large number of contractors last month, marking its second round of layoffs of temporary staff in less than a year.

By cutting back costs where possible, there’s no debate that Apple is making a noble effort to retain its permanent staff. However, as the company continues to contend with the same roadblocks as the rest of the industry, there’s no guarantee on how long this will last.

The winter of layoffs continues, as Meta announces another round of layoffs that will see 10,000 jobs cut from the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, 2023 is the “year of efficiency” for Meta. So far, that has meant scrapping ideas and firing employees at a staggering rate, echoing mass layoffs at other major tech companies.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like these cuts are going to stop anytime soon, either, with the tech CEO noting that these kinds of economic turmoil could “continue for many years.”

More Layoffs at Meta Confirmed

According to a blog post from the company, Meta is announcing that it will be cutting more jobs from its workforce. It follows rumors from last week that layoffs were incoming for Meta employees.

“Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired.” – Mark Zuckerberg

As for what these layoffs will look like for the Meta staff, Zuckerberg explained in detail exactly what everyone should expect from the news.

“Here’s the timeline you should expect: over the next couple of months, org leaders will announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our orgs, canceling lower priority projects, and reducing our hiring rates.” – Mark Zuckerberg

On top of all that, Zuckerberg noted that Meta would be reducing its recruiting team substantially, considering their necessity is limited given the lack of new positions on the horizon.

Meta’s “Year of Efficiency”

When Meta laid off 11,000 employees in November, Mark Zuckerberg also announced that 2023 would be the “year of efficiency” noting that the company would aim to “flatten” the organization in service of a better company.

Zuckerberg continued with this lexicon, using the word “efficiency” or “efficient” approximately 20 times in his blog post about the layoffs.

“As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs — and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long-term vision.” – Mark Zuckerberg

The year of efficiency has been a notable departure from just 18 months ago, when the controversial CEO announced that the company would be changing its name to Meta in hopes of ushering in the metaverse, a virtual world where people could interact like the real world.

Now, though, the recession has made this pipe dream that much more unlikely, particularly considering Meta has lost almost $14 billion in the process. Suffice to say, these layoffs and cost cutting measures are likely just the start of some serious restructuring over at Meta.

Tech giant Meta, which already has a portfolio that includes some of the world’s most popular social media platforms, is reportedly working on a new, decentralized social app with the codename “P92”. 

Although the plans are vague at the moment – the project seems to be much closer to the ideation phase than completion – reports suggest that users would be expected to log into the new platform with their Instagram account credentials.  

With decentralized social media platforms like Mastodon already up and running, Facebook’s userbase declining for the first time in its history last year and industry stalwarts like Twitter floundering under chaotic management, it feels like there’s never been a better time to make a move like this.

Meta’s New Platform: What We Know

The news that Meta has started a new project – codename P92 – was first reported by the financial news site MoneyControl this week.  

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests” a spokesperson told the publication. 

The project is being headed up by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, and will require your existing login credentials for the image-sharing platform when you sign-up.

A source close to the project also told MoneyControl that “the plan as of now is that the MVP (minimum viable product) will definitely allow our users to broadcast posts to people on other servers”, but admitted the company is yet to decide whether to allow users “to follow and view the content of people on other servers.”

ActivityPub: the Future of Social Media?

Meta’s new app is going to make use of ActivityPub, a decentralized social networking protocol that powers Mastodon.

The once-small-scale platform was flooded with new sign-ups after Elon Musk’s chaotic acquisition of Twitter, and now has around 1.8 million active users.

Other websites exploring how they can use the ActivityPub Protocol include Flicker, Tumblr, and Flipboard.

It’s not the only protocol being used for the purpose of decentralization, however. The Matrix protocol, for instance, is utilized by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s new app BlueSky and open source communications platform Rocket.chat. 

Meta: Twitter’s Newest Competitor?

With the tumult at Twitter unlikely to die down any time soon, Meta may see this as an opportunity to capitalize on the desire for a new social media platform with similar functionality. 

It’s likely too risky to try and build this into existing Meta platforms like Instagram and Facebook in its entirety, so a brand-new, text-based content app seems like a logical step. 

With Twitter alternatives like Mastodon still in their infancy and Facebook experiencing a user decline for the first time in the company’s almost 20-year history, the fact this “secret” project has suddenly become public at this time could be pre-meditated.

Regardless of how it got to press, we may look back at this news as one of the first real indications of a quantifiable paradigm shift away from traditional social media apps and towards decentralized social media platforms.

Google One is adding a new cyber surveillance feature that will allow users to monitor the dark web to see if their personal details have been included in a data breach.

The new feature, launched this week, will roll out to all Google One subscribers in the US, at no extra cost, as part of Google’s virtual personal network —VPN by Google One.

Google One VPN launched in late 2020, but was restricted to US subscribers on Android, with a minimum of 2TB storage. As of today, the virtual private network will be available to all Google One subscribers – plus five other people on your Google One plan, in 22 countries on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.

What Is Google One VPN?

Google One VPN, known as ‘VPN by Google One’ is Google’s first virtual private network – a security measure designed to hide a user’s IP address, to prevent websites from collecting their data, tracking their location and monitoring their internet activity.

Before yesterday’s announcement, Google VPN was only available on Google One Premium 2TB plans, at an annual cost of $99.99. As of today, the VPN will be available on all Google One plans with 100GB Basic, from $1.99 per month.

With data breaches on the rise, and the VPN market becoming heavily competitive, Google needed to expand its offering in order to capitalize on the grow in demand. With 90% of businesses concerned about cyber security resilience, dark web surveillance may be the feature Google One users need to feel better protected.

How Does Google One’s VPN Dark Web Report Feature Work?

The Google One VPN dark web report is a new feature  that will allow all eligible users to scan the dark web for personal details to check if their information has been included in a data breach. The feature works by searching for personal details online like social security numbers, name, address, email and phone numbers – and notifying the user if their details have been found.

Online identity fraud due to information stolen through data breaches is an increasing problem that affects millions of people every year. A lot of this stolen info can be found on the dark web, a hard-to-reach part of the internet that requires a specialized browser to access and isn’t indexed by search engines.

According to Google, when users first enable the dark web report, they’ll be required to select and provide the information that they’d like to monitor on their your ‘monitoring profile’. If any information is found on the dark web, the user will be notified and given guidance on how to respond and best protect their information.

In addition to flagging dark web personal information, the report will also show related information that could be found in data breaches. While some users may be wary, Google assures that all information entered into the monitoring profile will be handled according to Google’s privacy policy, giving users the ability to delete or stop monitoring the information on their profile at any time.

Is Google One VPN Worth It?

If you’re a Google One subscriber in the US, the upgraded VPN will be a welcome addition to your toolkit – but as far as VPN’s go, Google One is about as trustworthy as any other VPN on the market. That said, with the VPN now available with plans from $1.99 per month, it will be certainly be one of the cheapest VPNs.

There are plenty of VPN options out there. The safest, according to our research, is NordVPN, but you can see how it compares to other top providers in our guide to the most secure VPNs in 2023 to make your own decision.

TikTok recently announced that it will be launching a new “Series” feature that will allow select creators to place exclusive videos behind a paywall for viewers to purchase.

The content can be bought through in-video links or through a creator’s profile, and with TikTokers being able to keep 100% of their earnings (after fees), it’s bound to provide lucrative opportunities to those creating content on the app.

If you’re interested in using TikTok’s new feature, this guide breaks down everything you need to know about Series, including how it works, its benefits, and its eligibility criteria.

TikTok Launches New Series Feature

If you’re currently capitalizing on TikTok’s profit-making potential, you’re in luck — it’s just become easier than ever to make money on the app.

This Tuesday, the short-form video app announced it would be rolling out a new Series feature that allows creators to post collections of up to 80 videos behind a paywall.

Each video is able to run for up to 20 minutes, bypassing the app’s current 10-minute video limit, and making it easier for creators to post a range of in-depth content from longer-form cooking demos to beauty tutorials.

“Developed with our community’s love of sharing authentic stories, expertise and experiences in mind, Series enables eligible creators to post Collections of premium content behind a paywall.” – Recent blog post from TikTok

Creators are able to place their own price on the paywall (as long as it’s somewhere between $0.99 and $189.99) and for a limited time, they will receive 100% of the money earned, after platform and processing fees and subtracted.

Through TikTok’s current Creator Fund, creators are currently only able to make around $0.02 to $0.04 for every 1,000 views they receive on the app. But now, the app’s new premium-style tier makes it possible for businesses and influencers to generate a more stable income from the app.

Who is eligible for TikTok Series?

At the current time, it’s unclear which content creators will be able to take part in TikTok Series. The app announced that applications to join the feature will be rolled out in the following months, so we recommend following TikTok’s newsroom to stay up to date.

TikTok Also Tries to Tackle Doom Scrolling for Minors

As the competition between major social media platforms heats up, and concerns over data handling privacy mount, Series isn’t the only feature TikTok has released in recent months.

Just last week, the Chinese-based company decided to impose a 60-minute time limit for minors using the platform to assuage concerns over its addictive behavior. The warning represents a major turning point for the app, which has previously been accused of not taking the mental health of its users seriously.

However, since the safeguard is able to be bypassed by teens that want to continue scrolling, it has received backlash from psychologists like Jelena Kecmanovic who told the media outlet NPR the new measure is “not enough.”

TikTok has also recently launched a security measure called “Project Clover” to quell concerns that users and state officials have over its data-sharing practices with China.

But with a user base that’s currently sitting over 1 billion, one thing is for certain. No matter how much hot water TikTok gets into, nothing will stop creators and users from flocking to the app in droves.

Amazon has won a proposed class action lawsuit raised by almost 7,000 workers that claim the company should have reimbursed them for the cost of working remotely during Covid-19.

The US District Judge said the case was lost because the main plaintiff, David Williams, failed to prove that Amazon had a policy that didn’t allow expenses like internet and cell phone to be covered.

With thousands of Amazon staffers recently expressing disdain about the company’s return-to-office mandate, it’s not the first time that the company and its workers have come to blows over remote work. Here’s what we know so far.

Amazon Workers Attempt to Claim Back WFH Expenses

As discontent among Amazon’s workforce brews, almost 7,000 workers tried and failed to claim back home office expenses incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main plaintiff, David Williams, first sued Amazon in 2021 for failing to reimburse him and his fellow employees for costs associated with hybrid working —  like internet, personal phone use, and other services — despite this going against state laws. Williams then added class-action claims last year, after receiving backing from almost 7,000 of his co-workers.

The case was denied by US District Judge, Vincent Chhabria, as Williams wasn’t able to provide evidence that Amazon has a policy that prevented staff members from being compensated.

Chharbria also said that more than 600 of the proposed class members were reimbursed, an average of $66.49 by Amazon, while some received full compensation.

However, even though William’s case was blocked this time, his motion was denied without prejudice. This means that he’ll be able to file a renewed motion against the ecommerce company in the future.

Amazon Workers Are Striking Back

While William’s case hasn’t yet been met with success, the number of workers involved reveals how widespread discontent is about Amazon’s failure to reimburse a greater amount of WFH costs. But insufficient compensation isn’t the only thing its workforce are up in arms about.

After allowing its employees to work remotely since the start of the pandemic, Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, recently called for workers to return to the office, for at least three days a week from May 1.

In response, around 5,000 Amazonians have signed a petition calling for Jassy’s new mandate to be scrapped. Jaded workers also formed a breakaway Slack channel called “Remote Advocacy” to discuss the benefits of remote work as well as concerns regarding the CEO’s new policy.

However, despite widespread appeals from his workforce, Andy Jassy is still calling for a hybrid return to the office to improve collaboration opportunities and to make it easier to learn in person.

And as the company still reels from the biggest round of layoffs made in its 28-year history, it’s likely that driving up productivity by any means it thinks is necessary will continue to be a top priority going forward. It remains to be seen if refilling the office, with disgruntled workers, will achieve that aim.

The software company Atlassian has decided to cut 500 workers — equating to 5% of its workforce — as the firm funnels more resources into growth divisions like cloud computing.

The Trello and Jira owner broke the news to affected workers by email, just four months after Atlassian pledged to ramp up its hiring efforts last November.

However, with the company’s headcount more than tripling since 2019, it’s no surprise that the company has decided to follow in the footsteps of other tech firms that have made recent layoffs like Meta, Citigroup, and Wix.

Atlassian Lays Off 500 Workers to “Rebalance Priorities”

As the tech sector continues to contend with Covid-induced overhiring efforts and a bleak economic outlook, Atlassian has decided to cut 5% of its workforce.

The company’s co-founders and joint CEOs, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, informed workers about this decision by email, explaining that the cuts were about rebalancing the team to “better position Atlassian for the long term”.

“We have made the difficult decision to rebalance our team to better position Atlassian for the long term” – Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, Co-Founders and CEOs of Atlassian

“A month back we reorganized our company to better reflect operating in a changing and difficult macroeconomic environment” the CEOs write in their blog post, before adding “while it helped us streamline work, we need to go further in rebalancing the skills we require to run faster at our company priorities”.

The company also points out that these layoffs are not a reflection of Atlassian’s financial performance, before listing their various growth opportunities including cloud migrations, and IT service management.

Atlassian also noted that they will be providing a number of benefits to axed employees including a global separation package, six months of healthcare benefits, and Visa support to those in need.

Big Tech’s Layoffs Continue

Unfortunately, as dismissals in the tech sector exceed 100,000 this year alone, Atlassian isn’t the only software company that’s been forced to make difficult decisions.

As tech firms deal with overhiring efforts throughout the pandemic and a turbulent economic outlook driven by rising inflation rates and wavering consumer demand, some of the biggest names in the industry are making radical cuts to their headcount.

Microsoft has sent a staggering 10,000 staffers packing, in one of “the most challenging” times of the company, Meta is considering making a second round of layoffs and similar actions have been made by a slew of companies like Spotify, PayPal, and Wix.

Despite these sweeping layoffs, the tech industry is still showing healthy signs of growth. However, as corporate trust in tech erodes, and fresh talent continues to be deterred from applying for jobs in the field, it’s uncertain how long this expansion will last.

Cash registers and other point-of-sale (POS) systems aren’t going to be around forever, as Wix has announced that it now supports Tap to Pay functionality on iPhones.

Contactless payments become quite popular during the pandemic, with everyday people wary about touching surfaces and generally exposing themselves to germs. However, with vaccines in circulation and business mostly back to normal, many have realized the value of contactless payment, whether you’re dodging a deadly virus or not.

Fortunately, businesses in the US have finally taken notice, with software providers and store owners alike providing tools to make contactless payments easier than ever.

Wix Announces Tap to Pay on iPhone

Announced in a press release this week, Wix announced a partnership with Stripe, the financial service firm that also launched Tap to Pay on Android a few weeks ago. The partnership would bring Tap to Pay functionality on iPhones for Wix users.

This would allow Wix merchants to “accept secure, contactless payments directly from their iPhones, without needing additional hardware.”

“We’re constantly evolving our solutions to help users efficiently grow both their online and offline sales. Tap to Pay on iPhone offers merchants a reliable and secure payment option to increase customer touchpoints and deliver new in-person experiences, ultimately optimizing their multichannel strategy and increasing the monetization of their offline sales.” – Amit Sagiv and Volodymyr Tsukur, Co-Heads of Wix Payments.

The functionality will be compatible with all contactless debit and credit cards, as well as Apple Pay and other contactless online payment service. You can access this new feature through the Wix Owners app, the designated app for Wix merchants.

Is Wix Good for Business?

We’ve done a lot of research when it comes to which business software is best for your business, particularly website builders like Wix. From feature catalogs to pricing pages, we’ve gone through the details with a fine-toothed comb to ensure that you make the right decision.

That said, we can confidently say that Wix is an excellent choice when it comes to business website builders. With a massive selection of features, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and all the help and support you could need to get through as a beginner, our research found that Wix is the best website builder for small businesses.

That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best option for your business. Luckily, we’re here to help, thanks to our thoroughly researched website builder quiz that can help you find the right website builder based on a few short questions.

Another tech firm is jumping on the AI bandwagon, with Salesforce announcing that it would incorporate its own iteration of ChatGPT into its customer relationship management (CRM) software.

The business world is abuzz with talk of artificial intelligence, due to the popularity of ChatGPT, a generative AI platform from OpenAI that is surprisingly adept at creating written content.

As the most popular CRM in the world, it’s safe to assume that this kind of tech would benefit Salesforce users, which is why the company has announced plans to launch its own iteration of the tool.

Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT

At the TrailheadDX developer conference this week, Salesforce announced that it would be adding generative AI capabilities to its popular CRM platform with a new tool dubbed Einstein GPT.

“We’re announcing Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI for CRM. I think the future is really bright here. It’s creating a tremendous amount of opportunities for innovation within our ecosystem of products as well as our broader ecosystem.” – Patrick Stokes, EVP and GM for platform at Salesforce to TechCrunch

If you know anything about Salesforce, you likely recognize the Einstein name as Salesforce’s own AI-powered assistant that improved functionality for its users. Considering Salesforce partnered with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to roll out this new feature, it’s safe to say this new tool could seriously help businesses out in the long run.

What Can Einstein GPT Actually Do?

All this talk of adding generative AI to platforms sounds great and obviously gets headlines. But how does it translate to actual, helpful features in platforms like Salesforce? Well, the specifics actually do sound like they could make life a lot easier for the average user.

“Think about all of the emails and chats that come into service agents today. They get inundated. With Einstein GPT for Service, we can auto-generate draft replies so that the agents can respond to customers much faster, and they get final say. They can make any edits before they hit send.” – Clara Shih, GM at Salesforce

This kind of functionality can be instituted across the Salesforce platform, including automatically generated customer summaries, personalized emails, and marketing copy to attract new customers.

That’s not all, though. Einstein GPT will also be able to generate images, like promotional materials for campaigns and other value assets for business owners. Even better, the platform will learn from your business operations, allowing it to provide a more comprehensive, helpful service in the long run.

There doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for tech layoffs, with Meta likely planning to cut thousands more jobs from its workforce as early as this week.

Once the pandemic had subsided, tech CEOs blindly and obliviously started hiring in huge numbers. However, due to a lack of common-sense foresight on the part of these CEOs, the economic upturn didn’t last long, and hundreds of thousands of employees have lost their jobs as a result.

The trend continues, as reports out of Meta point to another round of layoffs that could see even more employees outsted from their positions as soon as this week.

Meta Planning for More Layoffs

According to “people familiar with the matter” in a report from Bloomberg, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — one of the largest social media employers in the world — is planning to lay off thousands of employees as early as this week.

These aren’t the first major round of layoffs from Meta either. In November, the social media company let go of nearly 11,000 employees, which amounted to approximately 13% of its workforce. Meta is also experimenting with a wide range of cost cutting measures, including asking its many managers to stop managing and take lower level positions in the company.

All these firings have been part of Meta’s “year of efficiency,” a term Mark Zuckerberg has been happy to use in the face of these historic cuts. The anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the looming threat of layoffs has had a decidedly negative impact on the morale and mental health of workers at Meta.

Tech Layoffs Abound

The tech industry alone is now responsible for more than 100,000 layoffs in the last few months. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and dozens of others have been slashing workforces to facilitate this leaner strategy being adopted.

Subsequently, the general consensus across the tech industry — and the global economy as a whole — is that virtually no job is safe, resulting in the atmosphere of distrust and resentment that could have long-lasting effects for the industry.

“I think people should come out of this learning and remembering that we have to trust ourselves before anyone or anything else.” – a recruiter for a large tech firm told Fortune

The sentiment is hard to argue with. While tech was long considered the safest and most lucrative gig you can get, this inability to forecast basic economic trends at the expense of hundreds of thousands of employees doesn’t inspire much confidence. All that to say, the so-called geniuses of the tech industry clearly don’t know enough to protect your job, or worse, they’re apathetic to the plight of the people powering their companies.

Two US senators will introduce new legislation this week with the goal of opening up government power to “ban or prohibit” foreign-owned tech products such as TikTok.

Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he has bipartisan support for the bill.

It’s following on the heels of another bill out from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, which aims to give President Biden the ability to ban the video app. Plus, the Office of Management and Budget has recently published guidelines detailing how agencies could impliment a ban.

Why the New Bill Exists

Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, a private Chinese company. Many of the app’s critics in the US base their concerns around fear that the private company has too close a relationship to its government. Tiktok’s defense: It operates independantly, even storing its data safely with Oracle, a US-based company.

Warner, who is working on the bill with Senator John Thune, says that questionable data security is only one reason he’s concerned about TikTok specifically. Here’s his statement, covered by CNBC yesterday:

“They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this can be a propaganda tool.”

According to Warner, the app’s admittedly opaque algorithm could potentially be used to promote videos in China’s interests. But the proposed ban could face First Amendment challenges, as Caitlin Chin, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained to the New York Times:

“In democratic governments, the government can’t just ban free speech or expression without very strong and tailored grounds to do so and it’s just not clear that we have that yet,” said Ms. Chin.

Social Media and Data Security

TikTok is faced plenty of opposition from the US already: State employees across more than 20 states are banned from using the service on government-issued devices, and some universities have blocked it on their WiFi.

TikTok’s algorithm has clear flaws, including a bias against queer, fat, and disabled people. While there’s no hard evidence that the platform is controlled by or closely cooperates with the government of the country that it operates within, it did weather a July 2022 report accusing the platform of “excessive” levels of data harvesting.

Not for nothing, Meta and Google have recently made the news for turning over their users’ chat logs and search history records to US police departments to aid them in prosecuting abortion seekers — evidence that the scope of governmental concern doesn’t need to stop at foreign-owned companies.

Regardless of how the First Admendment discussion shakes out, one thing’s for sure: TikTok, like any big corporation, is after its users’ data and there’s no harm in sharing less on social media. Thankfully, the service recently rolled out warnings to let some users know when they’ve been scrolling for more than an hour.