Microsoft Begins Deep Job Cuts Across Xbox Division
Microsoft's Barcelona-based King division, which makes Candy Crush, is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 200 jobs, according to people familiar with the plans. Other European offices, such as ZeniMax, also began informing employees that job cuts were happening, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to press.
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Forbes
19 minutes ago
- Forbes
Ryanair, Europe's Biggest Airline, Increases Free Cabin Bag Allowance
Ireland-based Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, has announced it will be increasing its free cabin baggage allowance for travelers. This refers specifically to the free personal item such as a handbag or laptop case to be placed below the seat in front of you rather than the full-size carry-on reserved for overhead bins. Ryanair carries more passengers around Europe than any other airline. getty 'Over the coming weeks' it will increase its free carry-on bag from 40 x 25 x 20cm (15.7 x 9.8 x 7.9 inches) to 40 x 30 x 20 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 7.9 inches). That extra five centimeters may not sound like much, but it increases the overall bag volume from 20 liters to 24 liters—enough to make a difference, especially for a quick business trip or weekend getaway. Ryanair is yet to announce a date for the change, as it waits to adjust its dreaded airport bag sizers at gates around Europe. Airline trade body Airlines for Europe (A4E) has confirmed Ryanair, alongside all its member airlines, will have the new measurement rules in place by the end of the 2025 summer season. This new standardized approach comes following an agreement among several European airlines to adopt a new minimum size for free cabin baggage. The incredibly convoluted and varied minimum bag limits across different airlines have been the bane of low-cost European travel since carry-on charges were first introduced in 2005 by the now-defunct Flybe airline. Known to be ruthlessly enforced by budget airlines, classic passenger mistakes such as not including wheels and handles in measurements can result in eye-watering extra charges—often far higher than the original ticket price for the flight. Ryanair baggage sizers, ubiquitous at airports across Europe and the cause of many a customer meltdown. NurPhoto via Getty Images The regulation follows a vote last month by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to mandate all airlines to allow passengers to take two pieces of carry-on baggage into the cabin. The European Parliament described taking two bags on board as 'a fundamental right to avoid unjustified extra costs.' It's a move major low-cost carriers from Ryanair to easyJet have described as unworkable. By setting an agreed standardized minimum free baggage size, they're hoping it may encourage officials not to impose the two two-bag limit. Most of Europe's low-cost airlines are strongly against the EU mandate to allow two carry-on bags on every flight. Getty Images Interestingly, that newly standardized minimum size of 40 x 30 x 15cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 5.9 inches) is less than Ryanair's stated new minimum size. Aligning with the minimum dimensions would have meant Ryanair actually reducing its free size volume by 10%. Instead, it means anyone currently using a Ryanair-compatible personal bag will be able to continue to do so. Almost all other carriers already have bag size allowances well over the newly standardized minimum.
Business Insider
19 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Fast-food restaurants are using their wealth of data to harness AI in their supply chains
Fast-food chain Juici Patties, which operates more than 70 locations in Florida, New York, and Jamaica, started on the island nation as a family kitchen in 1978. When the chain expanded into the US last year, it experienced stockouts. Executives knew they needed a different strategy — one with advanced technology to scale their business, manage franchises, and sell thousands of patties each day, Stuart Levy, the company's chief technology officer, told Business Insider. Today, Juici Patties uses AI's predictive and proactive features to prevent disruptions before they occur. "AI is helping to keep our distribution centers stocked with enough of our branded packaging to meet demand," Levy said. Indeed, AI technology is making its way into quick-service and fast-casual restaurant operations. AI can use data to form predictions about customer orders, then generate insights for leaders on how to manage inventory and operations. Domino's Pizza and Microsoft teamed up to create a generative-AI assistant that saves managers time on inventory management and ingredient ordering. Starbucks also inked a deal with Microsoft to use genAI in its product development. And Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, and others, partnered with Nvidia on AI for internal tasks such as labor management and analytics processing. For many quick-service restaurants, "their entire brand is built on speed and efficiency," said Spencer Michiel, the restaurant technology advisor at Back of House, a resource for restaurant tech solutions. "If there's anything that can help them with speed, efficiency, and lower cost, they're going to jump all over it." Data-rich restaurants layer on AI Restaurants are "extremely data-rich," Michiel said, which makes them well-suited to adopt AI. Major fast-food chains already have standard operating procedures to purchase based on demand, but AI takes that to the next level with forecasting abilities that more accurately predict demand and inform supply. With AI's forecasting capabilities, restaurants can predict what customers might order and use this data to buy ingredients, a notoriously tricky part of restaurant supply chain management. "The biggest thing that restaurants do badly is purchase," said Stephen Zagor, a consultant focused on restaurants and food businesses and an adjunct assistant professor of business at Columbia Business School. AI draws from quick-service restaurants' internal point-of-sale data, such as sales trends and which products customers tend to buy at the same time. Then, an AI algorithm combines this data with external factors like the weather or local events. "The beauty of AI is it's taking forecasted demand and turning that into a reaction all the way through the supply chain," Zagor said. For example, AI can deliver granular data by location. For a restaurant right off an interstate, AI could predict that travel will slow down on certain days. Seeing that prediction, restaurant managers could decide to drop their inventory levels and purchase fewer items, Zagor said. He named McDonald's as one quick-service restaurant that uses AI to maximize everything from its point-of-sale to its supply chain. The fast-food giant has partnered with Google Cloud and IBM on various AI solutions. When it comes to data and AI, the level of standardization across major chains puts them at an advantage over smaller franchises and independent restaurants. A mom-and-pop restaurant may not have "the time, the bandwidth, the skills, the knowledge" to gather data and create an action plan, Michiel said. Subscribing to software can cost hundreds of dollars each month, presenting financial barriers to small businesses. Any new back-of-house or supply chain software would need to integrate with existing point-of-sale systems. If done incorrectly, the result could be data loss or lag, "and it's going to be frustrating," Michiel said. Serving up efficiency and financial gains AI's predictive power can also help minimize waste in restaurant supply chains. If a restaurant orders too much, it could have to discard unused or expired food. This could require the business to increase meal costs to compensate for the loss, according to Michiel. "Food waste is just a killer," Michiel said. "Over-ordering is straight loss. There's no way you're going to recover that cost." Controlling costs is especially critical for fast-food chains, which order at scale and sell low-priced products. Making just 5 cents more on an item, or making 5 cents fewer, "is a big deal," Zagor said. AI can also promote cost savings by flagging if a particular ingredient swap could result in higher profits without sacrificing taste or quality. The technology "smooths out" a restaurant's ability to purchase inventory while still keeping customer satisfaction top of mind, Zagor said. "You can get good profit, and the customer is going to be happy," Zagor said. "It's win-win." Levy said Juici Patties' AI implementation into its point-of-sale system and supply chain was time-consuming, involved some growing pains, and sparked fears about replacing the workforce with AI. He acknowledged that "AI isn't flawless." Now that the technology is in place, though, Juici Patties has seen a boost in operational efficiency, Levy said. In one instance, the AI revealed that customers wanted to purchase food earlier in the day, before Juici Patties locations were open. "We were missing potential sales during earlier hours of the day," Levy said. The restaurant chain acted upon that information and adjusted its opening times. The result: "a consistent increase in daily sales," Levy said.
Fox News
19 minutes ago
- Fox News
Colby's China-focused Pentagon playbook sparks Ukraine arms freeze
A recent pause in the U.S. sending Patriot missiles and ammunition to Ukraine is part of a wider, global review of military aid driven in part by the Pentagon's China-leery policy chief, Elbridge Colby. "A capability review is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities," Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters this week. That review is part of a plan championed by Colby to conserve U.S. resources that may be needed for war in the Indo-Pacific. Upon first news of the pause, Pentagon officials said it was due to concerns about the U.S.' stockpile of munitions, which came after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes on each other in the Middle East. However, Parnell wrote on X that it was "flat out wrong" to suggest Colby caught other administration officials off-guard with the aid pause. Colby "routinely provides policy recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the President," but they have the ultimate say, he said. A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital they were "aware of the pause ahead of time." "The President and top officials expect the DOD to regularly review aid allocations to ensure they are in line with the America First agenda," the official said. Colby has long advocated for limiting resources in Europe and the Middle East in case they're needed in a war over Taiwan. "What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese, to do more," Colby said during his confirmation hearing. "A Europe first policy is not what America needs in this exceptionally dangerous time. We need to focus on China and Asia - clearly," he wrote on X. last year. The weapons put on pause, including missile interceptors and 155 mm ammunition shells, were already on their way to Ukraine, U.S. officials told Fox News. Since Russia's 2022 invasion, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with nearly $66 billion in security assistance, the Pentagon noted. "Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have and where we're sending them," Parnell added. "We can't give weapons to everybody all around the world." Still, critics like former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger claimed Colby had "blood on his hands" over the halt. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested an "emergency briefing" from the White House and the Defense Department to "review our nation's weapons and munitions stockpiles, and ensure the United States remains fully committed to providing Ukraine with the resources it urgently needs." Dan Caldwell, a former Pentagon official who worked with Colby on policy, defended his past colleague on X. "The incentives at DoD favor maintaining the status quo: Keep troops in Syria, keep sending weapons to Ukraine that we need for our defense, etc. That is why when patriots like @ElbridgeColby put the interests of their own country and own troops first, they are viciously smeared." Six months into President Donald Trump's second term, U.S. military prowess has largely focused back on the Middle East: an offensive campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, hitting Iran's nuclear sites and boosting defenses in the region. Air Force Gen. Daniel Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said defending the Al-Udeid base from an Iranian counterattack was the largest Patriot missile salvo in history.
