To Reduce AI Costs, Google Wants to Ditch Broadcom as Its TPU Server Chip SupplierRead more

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Layoffs, Hiring Freeze Spread Through Tech

Photo: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Things really are turning brutal for tech workers. We scooped the news today that Cameo laid off a quarter of its workforce, just the latest example of the layoffs spreading through tech. Also today, Business Insider reported that Meta Platforms has instituted a hiring freeze through the end of this year (more on that from us here), while The Information revealed that Netflix is reining in its freewheeling approach to how much it pays people. Both stories follow Amazon’s astonishing revelation last week that it is now overstaffed in its warehouses. Tech labor may be becoming more of a buyer’s market than it has been.

And these examples may be the tip of the iceberg. Growing signs of economic strains—the Fed raised interest rates today by the largest amount in 20 years today—are likely to force more companies in different parts of tech to cut costs. The implications are interesting to contemplate. For one thing, a softer labor market could weaken the hands of employee activists at big tech companies, those workers who in recent years have tried to dictate to their employers the kinds of products they should sell, whom they should sell to and whether they need to work from an office again. 

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
OpenAI's Greg Brockman (left) and Google's Demis Hassabis (right). Photos by Getty.
AI Agenda google ai
OpenAI Hustles to Beat Google to Launch ‘Multimodal’ LLM
As fall approaches, Google and OpenAI are locked in a good ol’ fashioned software race, aiming to launch the next generation of large-language models: multimodal.
Photo by Getty
Exclusive google ai
Google Nears Release of Gemini AI to Challenge OpenAI
Google has given a small group of companies access to an early version of its highly anticipated conversational artificial intelligence software, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Flexport founder, Ryan Petersen. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.
Exclusive e-commerce
Flexport’s Revenue Dropped 70% in First Half of 2023
Flexport’s revenue fell nearly 70% in the first half of the year to $700 million and the company burned through cash, people familiar with the company’s financials said.
From left, a Google TPU, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian. Photos via Getty, Google and YouTube.
Exclusive google semiconductors
To Reduce AI Costs, Google Wants to Ditch Broadcom as Its TPU Server Chip Supplier
Google executives have extensively discussed dropping Broadcom as a supplier of artificial intelligence chips as early as 2027, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort.
Org Charts enterprise Finance
The People in Power at Tech Private Equity Juggernaut Thoma Bravo
Orlando Bravo may be the face of Thoma Bravo, but he’s not the only one calling the shots. The hard-charging, helicopter-riding managing partner has become the most recognizable person at the software-focused private equity firm.
Gigafund co-founders Luke Nosek and Stephen Oskoui. Art by Clark Miller; Oskoui photo courtesy Gigafund.
The Big Read space entertainment
The Elon Musk Investors With Dreams of a New Social Order
In February 2021, a Mormon film producer named Jeffrey Harmon returned home to Provo, Utah, raving about an exclusive gathering he’d just attended in Austin, Tex.