On Tuesday, Vice President J. D. Vance said that the Trump administration’s support of AI and tech innovations should benefit both populists and those investing and leading tech companies. “I think there’s too much fear that AI will simply replace jobs rather than augmenting so many of the things that we do now,” said Vance […]
Northvolt lays off 1,600 workers, but it’s not the end for Europe’s battery champion
When is raising $ 14 billion not enough? When you’re a battery startup. Northvolt, Europe’s attempt at building a competitor to Asia’s battery manufacturing powerhouses, announced on Monday that it had halted work on a factory expansion and laid off 1,600 employees, or about 20% of the workforce. The company was planning to expand its […]
Chipmaker Qualcomm lays off hundreds of workers in San Diego
Qualcomm, which makes chips for smartphones, said it will lay off 226 workers in San Diego later this year, according to a California WARN notice published this week. The layoffs, which were first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, will take effect the week of November 12. The layoffs affect employees at 16 facilities across […]
DeepMind workers sign letter in protest of Google’s defense contracts
At least 200 workers at DeepMind, Google’s AI R&D division, are displeased with Google’s reported defense contracts — and according to Time, they circulated a letter internally back in May to say as much. The letter, dated May 16, says the undersigned are concerned by “Google’s contracts with military organizations,” citing articles about the tech […]
Data workers detail exploitation by tech industry in DAIR report
The essential labor of data work, like moderation and annotation, is systematically hidden from those who benefit from the fruits of that labor. A new project puts the lived experiences of data workers around the world in the spotlight, showing firsthand the costs and opportunities of tech work abroad. Many tedious, thankless, or psychologically damaging […]