First came Twitter, then Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, and now Google has become the latest tech giant to announce a round of layoffs affecting thousands of its employees. Around 12,000 jobs are expected to be cut globally, or over 6 percent of the company’s headcount. Google’s sister company Verily announced a smaller round of layoffs earlier this month.
Elsewhere, Netflix announced big news during its latest earnings release. Co-founder Reed Hastings is stepping down from his position as co-CEO after 25 years of running the company, but he’ll stay on as executive chairman. The company also plans to move forwards with its restrictions on password-sharing, which will see users charged extra if they want to stream outside of the primary household.
For now, here’s a tweet to start your day:
Stay tuned, as we continue to update this list with the most important news of today: Friday, January 20th, 2023.
Jan 21, 2023, 1:03 AM UTCMitchell Clark
Twitter will stop forcing you onto its ‘For You’ timeline
Since the new UI rolled out, Twitter’s mobile apps have pushed you to use the algorithmic ‘For You’ timeline.
- RBritain’s prime minister was fined because of this Instagram video.
There’s a long history of internet posts getting people into legal trouble, but this entry is unusual because it’s Britain’s prime minister Rishi Sunak.
This promotional video on his Instagram showed him riding in a car without a seatbelt on. The New York Times reports that violation can result in a fine of up to £500 (about $620 US), and said Sunak’s office confirmed he would pay without specifying an amount.
- MPart of the US’ no fly list has reportedly leaked.
A security researcher says they found the file on a regional airline’s unsecured server. According to The Daily Dot, the airline has confirmed that “NoFly.csv” was indeed genuine, and from 2019.
- EHave you been wondering about Gemini, Genesis, and the Grayscale Trust?
If so, this deep dive from the podcast Odd Lots is fantastic.
Three Arrows Capital and BlockFi were both borrowing from Genesis in order to get involved with a Grayscale arbitrage trade... and now Genesis is bankrupt. Of course, this is also why CoinDesk is up for sale, since Genesis, Grayscale, and CoinDesk share a parent company.
Jan 20, 2023, 11:10 PM UTCAndrew J. Hawkins
Elon Musk admits at trial that he ignored pleas to stop tweeting
Musk briefly took the stand on the third day of his securities fraud trial to testify about his Twitter habits and why he ignored the advice of his closest associates to just stop doing it.
Jan 20, 2023, 10:35 PM UTCMitchell Clark
TikTok confirms that its own employees can decide what goes viral
That the company promotes certain videos, sometimes to enhance relationships with creators and businesses, is no longer just an open secret.
Jan 20, 2023, 9:15 PM UTCAlice Newcome-Beill
Humble Bundle’s Winter Sale kicks off today
Save up to 90 percent off a number of excellent titles until February 7th during the Humble Bundle Winter Sale.
- RToday on The Vergecast: Elon Musk status update, M2 MacBook Pros, and tech layoffs.
Alex Heath joins the show’s first segment to talk us through the latest update on Elon’s first few months at Twitter, and then we turn to Apple’s eventless hardware announcement, HomePod and all.
We also dove into the revelations about CNET’s AI-written stories and discussed the recent spate of Big Tech layoffs, although we recorded the show (available in audio form here for your podcast apps) prior to Friday morning’s bombshell news from Google.
Jan 20, 2023, 7:36 PM UTCUmar Shakir
Nintendo reportedly projects Switch sales are going up in 2023
Bloomberg reports Nintendo is increasing Switch production for the next fiscal year after overcoming component shortages that had recently caused it to cut forecasts.
Jan 20, 2023, 7:25 PM UTCMia Sato
CNET pauses publishing AI-written stories after disclosure controversy
In a staff call on Friday, CNET leadership told staff it was pausing all AI-generated content for now. Top executives at Red Ventures, the firm that owns CNET and other websites, also offered more details on the company’s AI tool.
- CInvincible season 2 is a work in progress coming later this year.
The way streamers drop multiple new “seasons” of animated shows back-to-back these days often makes people forget how much work goes into animation. The reason there hasn’t been a second season of Amazon Prime’s Invincible adaptation yet? It isn’t finished.
But from the looks and sounds of a new teaser dropped today, fans can look forward to seeing more Invincible sometime late this year.
Jan 20, 2023, 5:12 PM UTCMitchell Clark
How to easily share your Wi-Fi password on Android and iOS
Your phone may have a built-in feature that makes the process extremely easy.
- JTwitter tests adding more clutter to its cluttered interface.
Twitter is testing yet another form of verification for journalists. The latest trial adds a small publication logo to the right of display names. It looks pretty messy to me, but that might just be the Daily Mirror logo used in the tests.
Anyway, remember when Elon Musk was talking about dropping features because they were a “waste of screen space”?
Jan 20, 2023, 3:07 PM UTCJess Weatherbed
T-Mobile announces another data breach, impacting 37 million accounts
The attacker obtained customer names, billing addresses, emails, phone numbers, and birth dates through an internal API.
Jan 20, 2023, 3:00 PM UTCVictoria Song
Polar Ignite 3 review: style over substance
The Ignite 3 looks like a sleek, modern smartwatch but acts like a tracker from five years ago.
Jan 20, 2023, 2:57 PM UTCRichard Lawler and James Vincent
Google is freaking out about ChatGPT
The New York Times reports Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have discussed its response to ChatGPT, with plans to launch over 20 AI products this year, including a demo of its own search chatbot.
Jan 20, 2023, 11:18 AM UTCTom Warren
Microsoft has copied the best Windows audio app
Windows 11 now secretly includes an audio feature that’s very similar to EarTrumpet, a popular third-party tool.
Jan 20, 2023, 10:45 AM UTCJames Vincent
Google cuts 12,000 jobs in latest round of big tech layoffs
Google needs to focus on key areas like AI, says Sundar Pichai
Jan 19, 2023, 11:40 PM UTCEmma Roth
Netflix’s paid password sharing to roll out ‘more broadly’ in the coming months
The streaming giant will soon make you pay to add sub-accounts for anyone using your subscription outside of your household.
Jan 19, 2023, 9:10 PM UTCRichard Lawler
Reed Hastings is stepping down as Netflix’s co-CEO
Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters are now the co-CEOs running the massive subscription streaming company.
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