Microsoft to cut about 4% of its workforce amid hefty AI bets
Microsoft announced plans to lay off nearly 4% of its global headcount, approximately 9,100 jobs, as it looks to rein in costs tied to its $80 billion AI infrastructure investments. The cuts affect all regions and divisions, including Xbox Game Studios, and follow May’s round of 6,000 layoffs. The company will streamline management layers and consolidate roles across cloud services, sales, and gaming units .
Read more
Amazon deploys its one millionth robot and launches “DeepFleet” AI model
Amazon Robotics has reached the milestone of deploying its 1 millionth warehouse robot at a facility in Japan and concurrently introduced DeepFleet, a new generative AI foundation model designed to optimize robotic traffic flow, promising a 10 percent reduction in travel time and improved energy efficiency across its fulfillment network .
Read more
Perplexity launches “Max” subscription tier at $200/month
AI search startup Perplexity AI rolled out Perplexity Max, a premium $200/month (or $2,000/year) plan that includes unlimited queries to its Labs productivity tools, access to top-tier models (like OpenAI o3-pro and Claude Opus 4), early feature previews (such as the upcoming Comet browser), and priority support, targeting professionals and researchers demanding “limitless AI productivity” .
Read more
Sam Altman shares bold predictions on AI’s societal impact
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman outlined a sweeping vision for artificial general intelligence (AGI), forecasting that AGI agents could enter the workforce as early as 2025 to automate mundane tasks and form personalized AI “teams” for individuals, driving unprecedented productivity gains. He warned of challenges including job displacement, resource concentration, and the necessity of robust safety measures to mitigate existential risks .
Read more
Ford CEO warns AI could replace half of white-collar roles
Ford Motor Company’s Jim Farley cautioned that artificial intelligence may eventually automate up to 50 percent of white-collar jobs, particularly those involving routine billing, reporting, and administrative duties. He stressed the urgency of workforce reskilling and policy support to address income disparity and economic disruption .
Read more
Google rolls out “AI Mode” in Search to all U.S. users
After a limited Labs preview, Google officially launched AI Mode on Search for U.S. users on June 27. Powered by Gemini 2.5, AI Mode uses a “query fan-out” approach, issuing simultaneous sub-queries across multiple data sources to deliver concise, contextual answers with source links, aiming to streamline multi-step information needs into a single conversational interface .
Read more