Google: Alphabet’s shares tank eight per cent after video blunder involving its version of ChatGPT February 9, 2023 Google’s parent company Alphabet’s shares plummeted yesterday after its brand new AI chatbot answered a question wrong during a promotional video. The owner of Google saw shares crash almost eight per cent on Wednesday, causing a $100bn (£82bn) loss to its value. This comes after Alphabet announced that Google would be launching an integrating its [...]
Taking the Mickey: Disney to slash 7,000 jobs in bid to save £4.5bn as part of ‘significant transformation’ February 9, 2023 The Walt Disney Co has said it will cut about 7,000 jobs as part of a “significant transformation” announced by CEO Bob Iger. The job cuts amount to about three per cent of the entertainment giant’s global workforce and were announced after Disney reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s forecasts. Mr Iger returned as [...]
Astrazeneca’s shares rise, as cancer drug uptake offsets fall in sales of pharma giant’s Covid-19 vaccine February 9, 2023 Astrazeneca has posted what it claimed were “strong” financial results for the full year 2022 as surging demand for cancer medicines offset a fall in Covid vaccine revenues. Shares in Astrazeneca jumped on the news as the firm said it expects another year of double-digit revenue growth in 2023. The British firm’s strong results came [...]
Global Twitter outage as users told they have reached ‘tweet limit’ February 9, 2023 Many Twitter users found themselves unable to tweet, follow accounts or access their direct messages as Elon Musk’s platform experienced a slew of widespread technical problems. “Twitter may not be working as expected for some of you. Sorry for the trouble. We’re aware and working to get this fixed,” the company tweeted from its support [...]
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard bid would mean higher prices and less choice for gamers, CMA probe warns February 8, 2023 Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of gaming firm Activision Blizzard could result in higher prices, fewer choices or less innovation for UK gamers, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said. In the provisional findings of its five-month investigation into the 68.7 billion dollar (£56.7 billion) deal, the CMA said the merger could make Microsoft stronger, stifle [...]
Driving success: Uber eyes profitability as airport and office journeys fuel post-pandemic rideshare demand February 8, 2023 Uber said it had set its sights on delivering profits this year after 2022’s surge in demand for airport and office rides helped the company rebound from pandemic lows. Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, said the company was now focused on achieving profitability on a GAAP basis this year. Khosrowshahi said: “The pandemic’s impact on [...]
Bid for self-preservation: eBay to slash 500 jobs as e-commerce giant eyes shift to new technologies February 8, 2023 eBay is joining the ranks of other tech companies laying off staff in a self-preservation effort during a challenging economic environment. The e-commerce giant announced it is cutting 500 jobs – about four per cent of its workforce – so that they can “continue to be successful”, in a memo written to employees on Tuesday [...]
Zoom to cut around 1,300 ‘zoomies’ as workers ditch wfh and head back to the office February 8, 2023 Zoom is trimming its workforce by 15 per cent as demand for online working fades into the pandemic past. Eric Yuan, chief executive of Zoom, said the company needed to “reset” and had made the “tough but necessary decision” to bid farewell to around 1,300 employees, in a memo shared with the public yesterday. In [...]
Arm revenues jump to £620m as Softbank gears up to float UK chipmaker February 7, 2023 British chipmaker Arm said revenues had surged 28 per cent in the past quarter as its parent company Softbank gears up for a much anticipated float at the end of this year. In a trading update on its third quarter trading the Cambridge-headquartered firm said revenues had topped $746m (£620) after its partner firms shipped [...]
New innovation department could be a ‘gear change’ for tech growth, industry chiefs say February 7, 2023 The creation of a new government department for technology and innovation could be a “gear change” for the growth in the UK’s tech sector and represents a “significant” boost for UK innovation, tech chiefs said today.