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| Welcome to today's Inside Tech! Here are the top headlines: - T-Mobile will cut 7% of its workforce.
- The EU's rules governing online platform safety have taken effect.
- Donald Trump has posted on X, formerly Twitter, following a ban.
- Tesla plans to build a Supercharger station with drive-in in LA.
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p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | T-Mobile plans to cut about 5,000 jobs, or ~7% of its workforce, amid changing customer expectations, according to a Thursday regulatory filing. T-Mobile CEO, Mike Sievert, said the layoffs will mainly target corporate, back-office, and tech roles, while customer-facing positions will be unaffected. More: - In an employee email disclosed in the filing, Sievert said the affected positions are mostly redundant or no longer in sync with the company's evolving systems, processes, and goals.
- Clarifying the reasons behind the layoffs, Sievert cited rising customer demands since T-Mobile's 2020 merger with Sprint, along with the steep expenses to acquire and retain customers.
- The cost to attract new customers is "materially more expensive than it was a few quarters ago," he noted.
- Sievert referred to the layoffs as "unusual," with no further plans for large-scale reductions soon.
Zoom out: - In recent years, T-Mobile's wireless business has grown faster than AT&T and Verizon. The company has rapidly gained customers for its 5G-powered home internet service.
- Still, industry-wide subscriber growth has also slowed recently, following a pandemic-driven surge. Carriers have faced tougher competition from cable companies that bundle wireless plans with internet and cable at lower prices.
Q: Have you considered switching from a traditional wireless carrier to a cable or other company offering cheaper services? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | The EU's new tech giant regulations are now active. The Digital Services Act (DSA) took effect on Friday, applying to major digital platforms and search engines like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, all designed to enhance online safety. More: - Europe's Parliament approved the DSA in July 2022. While the law only covers EU countries, it's expected to have worldwide implications as companies adapt their policies to conform.
- The rules initially target "very large online platforms," or those with over 45 million EU users. Starting in mid-February, they will apply to other online platforms, regardless of size.
- Violations can lead to fines of up to 6% of global turnover, and repeat offenders may face a Europe-wide ban.
What it regulates: - The DSA bans data-driven targeted ads toward children and those based on protected characteristics such as sexual orientation, political affiliation, and ethnicity.
- It also prohibits "dark patterns," which are manipulative design tactics designed to nudge users in certain directions.
- Online platforms must be more transparent about their algorithms, and offer users ways to report illegal content and to appeal content moderation decisions.
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| 3 | | Former President Donald Trump has returned to "X," formerly Twitter, more than two years after his account was suspended following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Trump's first post on X under his @realdonaldtrump handle featured his mugshot taken from his booking at Georgia's Fulton County Jail. Trump claims more followers on X than on any other social media platform. 
What happened: The former president surrendered at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday, facing 13 felony charges tied to his alleged actions to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. While Trump has recently faced criminal charges in four separate cases, the latest booking marks the first time his mugshot was taken. Details: In the X post, Trump included the mugshot with the phrases "Election Interference" and "Never Surrender!" and shared a link to his campaign website, encouraging donations. The fundraising message claims he was arrested in Fulton County "despite having committed NO CRIME." Zoom out: In January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account due to concerns about incitement of violence following the Capitol attack. X owner Elon Musk, who reinstated Trump's account last November, retweeted the former president's Thursday post with the phrase "next-level." On Wednesday, Trump also skipped a Republican primary debate on Fox News, instead appearing on X for a widely watched interview with Tucker Carlson. | | | |
| 4 | | Mastercard is discontinuing its Binance-branded cards in Latin America and the Middle East, following Visa's similar move in Europe. Mastercard and Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, will end the crypto card programs in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Bahrain from Sept. 22. More: - The cards allow users to make payments in traditional currencies using their crypto holdings on Binance.
- The move will not impact Mastercard's other crypto card programs or partnerships with exchanges like Gemini.
- Neither company disclosed the reasons for ending the program.
Zoom out: - Regulatory issues have plagued Binance, including lawsuits from the SEC and CFTC in the U.S.
- Meanwhile, Visa halted new co-branded cards with Binance in Europe in July.
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| 5 | | Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has released a free AI coding tool, capitalizing on the growing demand for generative AI in the programming sector. Meta's Code Llama leverages the company's open-source Llama 2 language model to generate, explain, and debug code in various programming languages, including Python, Java, and C++. More: - Meta is launching Code Llama in three sizes: 7 billion, 13 billion, and 34 billion parameters.
- Each underwent training with a dataset comprising 500 billion tokens of code and code-related information.
- According to Meta, Code Llama will streamline developer workflows, allowing them to focus on the more human-centric aspects of their work.
Zoom out: - Since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT last year, enterprises and developers have increasingly adopted generative AI, with code generators like GitHub Copilot, Amazon's CodeWhisperer, and Google's AlphaCode gaining in popularity.
- Like other generative AI tools, coding tools have drawbacks, including security vulnerabilities and intellectual property concerns. Code Llama's code generation can sometimes be unpredictable and occasionally produce inaccurate or objectionable code.
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| 6 | | Tesla is moving forward with plans to build a Supercharger station with a diner and drive-in theater in Los Angeles. The city's Department of Building and Safety granted Tesla a permit for the facility, which would feature 32 Supercharger stalls, two screens to show movie clips, and a rooftop restaurant. More: - Elon Musk first floated plans for the project in 2018, tweeting "Gonna put an old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA."
- The project in West Hollywood recently passed its initial grading inspection earlier this month, giving Tesla the green light to proceed.
- Stantec Architecture in Chandler, Arizona, is credited with the project's architectural design, and PCL Construction Services Inc. will handle its construction.
Zoom out: - Tesla claims over 17,000 individual Superchargers across roughly 2,000 stations in the U.S.
- If this location proves successful, Tesla could expand the premium stations to other locations.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is the curator and writer of the AI and Tech newsletters at Inside. With a career in journalism and editing that began in 2007, she has written for publications including USA Today, The Arizona Republic, Arizona Business Gazette, and more. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by NO ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EDITOR | |
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