logo
Microsoft laying off several thousand employees

Microsoft laying off several thousand employees

Straits Times2 days ago
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The latest job cuts follow a round in May that saw about 6,000 positions culled from Microsoft's global workforce.
SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft on July 2 said it was slashing a little less than 4 per cent of its global workforce as it seeks to cut layers of middle management and leverage new technologies.
'We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,' a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail.
The cloud computing tech giant did not disclose the total number of lost jobs, but as of June 2024 it employed 228,000 people, bringing the latest layoffs to about 9,000 people.
The job cuts follow
a round in May that saw about 6,000 positions culled from its global workforce.
The company, which is advancing in its plans to deploy AI across all its products, said it was working to 'empower employees to spend more time focusing on meaningful work by leveraging new technologies and capabilities'.
'Even in the best of times, we have regularly adjusted our workforce to meet the strategic demands of the business,' the company added.
The company, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, was one of the first tech giants to double down on artificial intelligence when the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 rocked the tech industry. AFP
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade
Singapore From camping to mentorship, Singapore scouts mark 115th anniversary of the youth movement
Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty
World Sean 'Diddy' Combs convicted on prostitution counts but cleared of more serious charges
Singapore ByteDance food poisoning: Catering firm convicted after cockroach infestation found on premises
Singapore Teen, 17, to be charged with allegedly trespassing on MRT tracks
Singapore Granddaughter of Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim fails to keep 3 insurance policies from creditors' reach
Singapore Man on trial for raping drunken woman after offering to drive her and her friend home
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Mark Snow, composer of X Files theme, dies at 78
Mark Snow, composer of X Files theme, dies at 78

Straits Times

time16 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Mark Snow, composer of X Files theme, dies at 78

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Mark Snow, a composer of music for television – including the distinctively eerie theme for The X Files – has died at age 78. LOS ANGELES - Mark Snow, a composer of music for television – including the distinctively eerie theme for The X Files – has died at age 78, his agent confirmed. A cause of death was not provided, but Hollywood trade publication Variety said Snow died on July 4 at his residence in the north-eastern state of Connecticut. In addition to The X Files main theme, which was released as a single in 1996 and charted internationally, Snow composed the music for over 200 episodes and both feature films of the hit science fiction show about a pair of paranormal FBI investigators. Born Martin Fulterman on August 26, 1946, Snow grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended the prestigious Juilliard School. He began composing music for television in the late 1970s, garnering 15 Emmy nominations over the course of his career. In addition to The X Files, Snow composed the music for other US television series, including Blue Bloods, Smallville and Hart to Hart. He is survived by his wife Glynnis, three daughters, and grandchildren, Variety reported. AFP Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore From temples to towers: Old memories collide with new money in Geylang Singapore Clans of Geylang: The fight for survival and revival World Hamas says it responds to Gaza ceasefire proposal in 'a positive spirit' Asia Surviving 40 deg C summer in Chongqing, one of China's hottest cities Singapore PAP has begun search for new candidates; PM Wong hopes to deploy them earlier ahead of next GE Singapore 20 retired MPs spoke up on many issues in Parliament, helped successors prepare for new role: PM Wong Singapore $3b money laundering case: 9 financial institutions handed $27.45m in MAS penalties over breaches Asia JB petrol station shooting: Dead man with bullet wounds dumped at hospital

I'm human. Are you? The quest for our online identity
I'm human. Are you? The quest for our online identity

Business Times

timean hour ago

  • Business Times

I'm human. Are you? The quest for our online identity

It's every manager's worst nightmare: Hiring a remote employee who turns out to be a North Korean hacker intent on loading malware on to your network. But that's what happened to the US cyber security company KnowBe4 last year, as the company's founder, Stu Sjouwerman, described in a candid blog post. KnowBe4 had posted a job ad for an AI software engineer, interviewed candidates by video, conducted background checks, verified references and made an offer. But soon after the company sent a Mac workstation to the remote employee's notional address, he went rogue. The company quickly discovered he was a fake North Korean IT worker, who had used a valid, but stolen, US-based identity to land the job. He then accessed the workstation remotely from Asia via an 'IT mule laptop farm'. Thankfully, no data was compromised but the company said it was a 'learning moment'. 'If it can happen to us, it can happen to almost anyone. Don't let it happen to you,' Sjouwerman wrote. This scary incident highlights the difficulties of authenticating someone's identity online – even by specialist security experts. But that challenge is about to become immeasurably harder as we outsource more responsibilities to AI chatbots and agents, getting them to perform many administrative functions online, and we generate lifelike video avatars. Up to now, the internet has mostly involved machines communicating with machines and humans interacting with humans. But increasingly those lines are blurring. We're close to the point where chatbots and avatars are all but indistinguishable from humans online. How can you be sure that you're not interacting with a synthetic human? As is the way with Silicon Valley, some tech executives have come up with a proposed solution to the problem they have created, profiting from both sides of the transaction. Prominent among them is Sam Altman, who triggered the generative AI investment frenzy after his company OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Altman has also co-founded Tools for Humanity, which has developed an iris-verification device, a white globe about the size of a football, called the Orb. 'We needed some way for identifying, authenticating humans in the age of AGI,' he told an event in San Francisco this year. 'We wanted a way to make sure that humans stayed special and central.' Once a user's eye is scanned, the company sends them a World ID, a global digital passport, and US$42 in Worldcoin cryptocurrency as a reward for joining the network. As of April, some 13.5 million people in 23 countries had used the Orb to generate a World ID. The service was launched in the UK last month. The Orb is undoubtedly trying to address a real user need. But, quite apart from the scary Black Mirror vibes, it is questionable how effective the iris-scanning service will be. The need for a special machine to identify and authenticate any user (there are currently more than 1,500 Orbs in operation) makes the system clunky and expensive. The insistence on one centralised digital identity deprives a user of the freedom to have multiple, disconnected identities, raising privacy concerns. The World ID passport also risks becoming a walled garden that may not interoperate with other ID networks, such as the EU Digital Identity Wallet, which will become operational across the bloc by 2026. Nevertheless, some security experts suggest that we are rapidly entering a world where our default assumption must be that all online counterparties are synthetic unless they can prove otherwise. That creates a need to demonstrate genuine presence online, or 'liveness', as Andrew Bud, founder of the biometric authentication company iProov, calls it. iProov's premium service has been used more than 100million times by customers, including governments and financial services companies, through a smartphone-based facial recognition system. This shoots multicoloured lights at a user's face and analyses the reflections, verifying their identity in about 2.5 seconds. 'Digital identity is a set of facts. But trust does not reside in facts. It resides in people,' Bud tells me. That means linking those facts to a human being who controls those facts. 'And for that you're going to have to use biometrics.' The identification and authentication of users is one of the hardest challenges we face on the internet because technology is evolving so fast, but it is critical that we meet it. The likely next threat? Masses of synthetic hackers. FINANCIAL TIMES

France says ‘major issues' remain despite brandy price accord with China
France says ‘major issues' remain despite brandy price accord with China

Straits Times

timean hour ago

  • Straits Times

France says ‘major issues' remain despite brandy price accord with China

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (right) and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi address a joint press conference after a meeting in Paris. PARIS - France on July 4 praised China's steps to settle a trade dispute over European brandy imports but warned that 'major issues' remained unresolved. The signs of a thaw in the row over the alcohol came as China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. In recent months China and the European Union have butted heads over Beijing's generous subsidies for its domestic industries. Beijing launched an investigation in 2024 into EU brandy, months after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies. In the latest salvo, China will from July 5 require European brandy exporters to raise prices or risk anti-dumping taxes of up to 34.9 per cent. Beijing said 34 European brandy makers, including several French cognac producers, had signed an accord to avoid tariffs as long as they stick to an agreed minimum price. France's cognac makers' association BNIC, which includes key producers Hennessy, Remy Cointreau and Martell, confirmed that some companies had agreed to price increases in China to avoid anti-dumping taxes. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore From temples to towers: Old memories collide with new money in Geylang Singapore Clans of Geylang: The fight for survival and revival World Hamas says it responds to Gaza ceasefire proposal in 'a positive spirit' Asia Surviving 40 deg C summer in Chongqing, one of China's hottest cities Singapore PAP has begun search for new candidates; PM Wong hopes to deploy them earlier ahead of next GE Singapore 20 retired MPs spoke up on many issues in Parliament, helped successors prepare for new role: PM Wong Singapore $3b money laundering case: 9 financial institutions handed $27.45m in MAS penalties over breaches Asia JB petrol station shooting: Dead man with bullet wounds dumped at hospital Mr Macron and Mr Barrot praised China's steps to resolve the dispute but stressed they would discuss the outstanding differences with Mr Wang. 'This is a positive step towards resolving this dispute, which was threatening our exports,' Mr Macron said on X. 'I will continue to raise these issues with the Chinese authorities this afternoon.' In a statement to AFP, Mr Barrot said: 'Several major issues remain unresolved, in particular the exclusion of certain players from the scope of the exemptions.' 'We remain fully committed to reaching a definitive solution based on the conditions that existed prior to the investigation,' he said. Mr Wang has held fraught meetings in several European countries this week. After meeting Mr Macron and Mr Barrot, Wang told a press conference: 'The two sides had in-depth, active and sincere exchanges on Sino-French and European relations.' No mention was made of the brandy dispute. Almost all EU brandy is cognac produced in France, whose exports to China are worth €1.4 billion (S$2.1 billion) per year. French liquor giant Jas Hennessy said it would face levies of 34.9 per cent if it did not stick to the deal. Remy Martin will be hit with 34.3 per cent and Martell 27.7 per cent. 'The decision to accept the price commitment once again demonstrates China's sincerity in resolving trade frictions through dialogue and consultation,' a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement. However, the European Commission kept up criticism of China's new tariffs. 'We believe that China's measures are unfair. We believe they are unjustified,' said commission trade spokesman Olof Gill. 'We believe they are inconsistent with the applicable international rules and are thus unfounded.' Upcoming summit China has sought to improve relations with the European Union as a counterweight to the United States. But frictions remain, including a yawning trade deficit of US$357.1 billion (S$455.03 billion) between China and the EU, as well as Beijing maintaining close ties with Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine. The trade row blew up in 2024 when the EU moved to impose hefty tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, arguing that Beijing's subsidies unfairly undercut European competitors. Beijing rejected the accusation and announced what were seen as retaliatory probes into imported European pork, brandy and dairy products. The EU imposed extra import taxes of up to 35 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles in October. Beijing lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organisation, which in April said it would set up an expert panel to investigate. China and the EU are to hold a summit in July to mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. But Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources, that Beijing would cancel the second day of the summit , in a sign of the tensions. AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store