Facebook parent company Meta is reportedly considering another round of layoffs after cutting 11,000 positions, or 13 percent of its global workforce, in November. Meta made those cuts in a bid to lower costs and increase efficiency as it struggles with financial headwinds along with the rest of the tech sector. The company's much-hyped pivot to the metaverse has yet to pay dividends, and traditional forms of revenue such as advertising spending have fallen due to widespread economic uncertainty. Employees have reported being demoralized by the situation.
TWITTER CHARGING FOR TOOL
Twitter is getting pushback for charging $100 a month for a tool that cash-strapped nonprofits and researchers have come to rely on. Known as the API, or Application Programming Interface, the tool allows organizations to scan the platform for calls for help. Some users are sharing their API keys with do-gooder organizations, but activists are urging Twitter to remove the fee.
AMAZON ROBOTAXI
Zoox, an Amazon-owned startup, is now testing autonomous robotaxis with passengers in California. The company started the tests after getting approval from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles last week. The robotaxis are completely autonomous and have no steering wheels or pedals. They also have bi-directional driving capabilities, meaning they can move forward or backwards with ease. Right now, the permits only apply to a one-mile stretch of road between the Zoox offices and Foster City, California and will only be shuttling employees.
REMOTE WORK COST $12B IN NYC
A Bloomberg News analysis of exclusive data from Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom found that remote work is costing New York City more than $12 billion a year. Work-from-home reduced the number of days in the office by 30 percent, which meant fewer commutes and fewer workers spending time in the city during the day. The analysis showed that the average worker is spending $4,661 less annually on things like shopping and food.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
