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Microsoft to lay off 6000 employees as part of workforce reduction plan

1 months ago

Microsoft is laying off about 6,000 employees, or 3% of its workforce. The company, which had around 228,000 employees, is making cuts despite reporting strong quarterly revenue of $70.1 billion and net income of $25.8 billion. This round of layoffs will affect all levels and teams and is not performance-related. Microsoft had previously reduced its staff by 10,000 earlier in 2023, amidst widespread layoffs in the tech industry.

Amazon expands advertising reach with Retail Ad Service for other retailers

5 months ago

Amazon Ads Retail Media

Amazon is allowing retailers to use its advertising tools to run sponsored ads on their websites, simplifying targeted ad campaigns. The Amazon Retail Ad Service enables companies to display relevant ads on their sites, initially available for U.S. retailers for a fee. Amazon's ad revenue reached $14.3 billion, ranking third in digital advertising. The service allows customization of ads and uses AWS for data management, potentially enhancing Amazon's ad technology.

Google CEO Pichai declares AI model Gemini as top priority for 2025

5 months ago

Gemini

Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the AI model Gemini will be the main focus in 2025, which he called a critical year. He stressed the need for Google to accelerate its AI efforts and acknowledged the company must catch up. Pichai noted that while Gemini is gaining momentum, there is work to be done to close the gap and establish leadership, with scaling Gemini on the consumer side as the top priority for the year ahead.

Google Ads Monthly Slides with AI Insights

Featured

Create professional Google Ads performance reports in Google Slides with AI insights and visualizations. Transform Google Ads data into polished presentations featuring AI-generated insights and custom visuals to impress stakeholders and streamline reporting. Use cases include reducing manual reporting time, presenting insights without design skills, maintaining reporting schedules, identifying trends, and sharing campaign insights for strategic decisions.

LinkedIn Verifies 55 Million Users to Combat AI-Driven Misinformation and Scams

7 months ago

LinkedIn has verified over 55 million users for free to combat misinformation spread by AI. The Microsoft-owned platform claims to have the most verified human identities among social networks. Unlike Meta and X, which charge for verification, LinkedIn uses corporate emails and government IDs for verification. The company aims to verify 100 million users by 2025 and emphasizes the importance of authenticity in building a trusted community.

Perplexity AI to Launch Ads in Q4 Amid Rising Popularity of AI-Assisted Search

10 months ago

Perplexity

Perplexity AI, an AI-assisted search startup accused of plagiarizing content, plans to run ads in Q4. The app, downloaded over two million times, answers 230 million queries monthly. Despite plagiarism concerns, it introduced a revenue-sharing model for publishers. Key advertisers will include tech, health, and finance sectors. The app's users are predominantly well-educated and in high-income professions.

Meta Settles Texas Biometric Data Lawsuit for $1.4 Billion Over Facebook Images

10 months ago

Compliance Monitoring Meta

Meta agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a facial recognition data lawsuit by the state of Texas. The lawsuit related to the Facebook owner’s unauthorized use of the personal biometric data of users from uploaded photos and videos on the social media site. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued Meta in 2022, is continuing to press a similar lawsuit involving biometric data against Google owner Alphabet.

Google Search Head: AI Mistakes Will Happen, But We Must Keep Going

1 years ago

AI SEO +1 more

Google's VP of search, Liz Reid, acknowledged AI products will have mistakes but emphasized pushing forward and addressing issues as they arise. Despite recent criticisms over the AI Overview tool's errors, Reid urged employees to take risks and rely on user and employee feedback for improvements. Google's rapid AI advancements aim to compete with OpenAI and Microsoft, despite facing challenges and occasional public embarrassments.

Temu Parent PDD Overtakes Alibaba as China's Top E-Commerce Company

1 years ago

Ecommerce

Temu Parent PDD's value-for-money positioning and growth of its Temu marketplace have made it China's most valuable e-commerce company, surpassing Alibaba. PDD's market cap is now $208 billion, compared to Alibaba's $196 billion. PDD's net income surged 246% in Q1, while Alibaba's dropped 86%. PDD's Temu has expanded rapidly overseas, gaining popularity in the U.S. and other countries.

Amazon to Overhaul Alexa with AI and Introduce Monthly Subscription Fee

1 years ago

Generative AI

Amazon is upgrading its Alexa voice assistant with generative AI and will charge a monthly subscription fee, not included in Prime. The new version aims to be more conversational, competing with AI chatbots from Google and OpenAI. Alexa's team has shifted focus under CEO Andy Jassy, moving towards artificial general intelligence. Despite challenges, Amazon sees potential in Alexa's large user base and plans to use its Titan language model.