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| 1 | | Google is tightening its policies on in-office work. The company announced on Wednesday that most employees must follow its three-day-per-week attendance rule that was announced last year. It will now track office badge data and include attendance in worker performance reviews. More: - After embracing remote work during the pandemic, Google has now informed employees that it will only allow full-time remote work in exceptional cases.
- The move is meant to encourage more in-person collaboration and team connectivity, according to Google's HR chief Fiona Cicconi.
- Managers will now send reminders to employees who are consistently absent from the office, and badge data will be used to track in-office turnout in the U.S.
- Alphabet, Google's parent company, had 190,711 employees at the end of Q1, after laying off around 12,000 employees (6% of the workforce) in January.
Zoom out: - In 2021, Google announced a $7B investment in new offices and data centers in the U.S., anticipating a return to in-person work as the pandemic subsided.
- Other tech companies, including Meta, are following a similar trend, requiring employees to work in offices at least part-time.
- In February, Amazon said it will require most of its corporate and tech employees to return to the office for a minimum of three days per week.
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| 2 | | The news: GameStop shares fell more than 15% Thursday after the company fired CEO Matthew Furlong and appointed Ryan Cohen, the board chairman, as executive chairman. Furlong, who previously worked at Amazon's Australian business, was GameStop's sixth CEO since 2017. Cohen, an activist investor and founder of Chewy, joined GameStop's board in January 2021 after acquiring a stake in the company the year before. What happened: GameStop announced Cohen's appointment and Furlong's firing alongside its Q1 financial results. In the quarter ended April 29, the gaming retailer reported $1.2B in net sales, a 10% drop YoY. However, its net loss of $50.5M was a 68% improvement over the same quarter last year. Why it matters: Despite the narrowing losses, GameStop is back in the red months after reporting its first quarterly profit in two years. The company's stock has seen extreme volatility after gaining among retail investors on social media, particularly Reddit's WallStreetBets forum, since early 2021. 
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| 3 | | Soccer star Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS) is expected to boost Apple's new MLS Season Pass subscriptions. Apple holds the exclusive MLS broadcasting rights for the next decade. Messi is now expected to earn a cut of revenue from new subscribers to the streaming service, according to his proposed club contract terms. More: - Apple and MLS struck a $2.5B deal last year for the company to be the league's exclusive broadcaster in over 100 countries for 10 years, streaming games live through MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV+ app.
- According to The Atheltic, Messi is set to receive a share of the revenue generated by MLS Season Pass.
- His arrival will likely be a significant boost for MLS Season Pass subscriptions, marking a major signing for the league since David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy in 2007.
- A day before Messi's announcement, Apple announced a four-part docuseries on Messi for Apple TV Plus.
Zoom out: - Apple has made a mark in soccer through its MLS partnership, documentaries, and the popular show Ted Lasso, which also featured a guest appearance by Messi's former manager.
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| 4 | | The European Union has given its approval for €8.1B ($8.7B) in state aid for technology innovation projects, including chip design research. On Thursday, the EU's executive arm announced that projects involving companies such as Airbus, ASML, and Ericsson could receive funds from 14 member countries. More: - In total, 68 Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) were given the green light, with participation from 56 companies from 19 countries.
- The projects focus on R&D for tools and materials, along with chip design and manufacturing, with a focus on 5G and 6G telecoms tech, autonomous driving, quantum computing, and AI.
- The projects are also expected to draw €13.7B in private funding, bringing the overall investment to €22B.
Zoom out: - The initiative aims to strengthen the bloc's domestic chip-supply chain as it seeks to become a major player in advanced semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies.
- The EU aims to manufacture at least 20% of the world's semiconductors by 2030.
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| 5 | | WhatsApp has unveiled Channels, a Twitter feed-like feature that allows admins to send one-way broadcasts of text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls to followers. Channels initially launches in Colombia and Singapore with select organizations before expanding to more countries soon. More: - According to the WhatsApp blog, Channels caters to governments, brands, and other entities looking for an alternative platform to make announcements.
- Followers cannot reply to any messages, which will be stored for 30 days before being deleted.
- Users can find and follow channels in a dedicated tab called Updates, which is separate from the chat inbox and houses both Status updates and followed channels.
- WhatsApp is also creating a directory for users to discover channels.
What's next: - Unlike regular WhatsApp messages, the messages aren't end-to-end encrypted, though WhatsApp said it's exploring encryption options for specific channels.
- The platform, owned by Meta, also plans to offer payment services and promotional options for channel admins, expanding their monetization opportunities.
Credit: WhatsApp | | | |
| 6 | | U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has unveiled a framework for AI legislation focused on corporate regulations. According to Hawley, any AI regulations will need to move through the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, of which he is a ranking member. More: - According to Axios, the five principles in the framework would require licenses for companies to build generative AI, create a legal way for people to sue companies for AI harm, restrict AI tehc to children, and enact fines for AI models that collect sensitive personal data without consent.
- They also propose to ban AI technology imports from China and bar U.S. companies from aiding in China's development of AI.
- Hawley said he plans to collaborate further with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the committee's chair, on additional bipartisan action on AI legislation.
- Other lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and several House members, are also exploring ideas for AI regulatory legislation.
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- Google Drive's desktop app will discontinue support for Windows 8, 8.1, and the 32-bit version of Windows 10 in August.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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