Layoffs at Google: Company fires hundreds from AI, hardware division, FitBit founders also fired

In a recent development, Google has implemented significant layoffs, affecting numerous employees across various divisions, encompassing engineering and services.

The restructuring measures extend to critical areas such as the voice-activated Google Assistant, a component of the knowledge and information product team, as well as the Devices and Services PA (DSPA) team, responsible for overseeing hardware like Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit.

While Google, with a workforce of 182,000 employees as of September 30, 2023, has officially acknowledged the layoffs, the company seeks to downplay the impact, attributing it to organizational changes.

A spokesperson for Google stated, “To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities.

Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.”

Expressing dissent, the Alphabet Worker Union characterized the layoffs as “needless” and criticized the company for dismissing employees while reporting substantial profits.

Additionally, Google has made strategic adjustments within its AR hardware team, opting to collaborate with other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

This move involves consolidating multiple hardware engineering teams into a single unit, replacing the previous individual teams dedicated to Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest.

As part of the restructuring, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman are departing from Google. James Park played a significant role in introducing the Pixel Watch line of smartwatches to Google’s hardware lineup. Google’s acquisition of Fitbit for $2.1 billion in 2019 was finalized in 2021, leading to the integration of Fitbit products into Google’s ecosystem.

Furthermore, reports indicate that Google has let go of personnel from the Google Assistant team, signalling a broader shift within the company. In the past year, Google has experienced layoffs across various departments, including the Waze mapping service in June, the recruiting team in September, and the news division in October.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Even NASA is facing a tough time, starts layoffs following major budget cuts

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been hit hard by recent federal budget cuts, resulting in the reported layoff of 100 contractors last week.

The funding constraints are now posing a significant threat to NASA’s ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, as reported by the LA Times.

The JPL director, Laurie Leshin, informed staff that the MSR mission may be limited to a budget of $300 million this year, representing just over a third of the 2023 budget of $822 million and less than a third of the budget requested by the Biden administration.

This substantial reduction in funding adds to the existing challenges faced by the MSR mission, which has already experienced budget uncertainties and growing costs. NASA also had to announce that its manned mission to the moon, Artemis, has been postponed.

In June, concerns were raised as the mission’s costs were escalating rapidly, prompting NASA to reassess its architecture in October after an independent review board deemed the current budget and schedule “unrealistic.”

Last week’s budget cuts further intensified the situation.

Director Leshin acknowledged in an internal email that adjusting to such a significant budget cut in a single year would be painful, and potential layoffs at JPL could have broader impacts beyond the MSR mission.

NASA has instructed JPL to curtail a key project within the MSR mission as a response to the budget constraints.

The MSR mission, a complex collaboration with the European Space Agency, involves collecting samples on Mars using NASA’s Perseverance rover, shooting them into Martian orbit, and later retrieving them for a return to Earth in the early to mid-2030s.

Due to budget restrictions, JPL has imposed a hiring freeze and paused work on the mission’s Capture, Containment, and Retrieval System, designed to retrieve the samples in orbit.

Lawmakers, including Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), expressed dissatisfaction with NASA’s decision to cut funding for the MSR mission before the completion of Congress’s appropriations process.

Schiff emphasized the mission’s importance as NASA’s highest scientific priority and a crucial element of American leadership in space science.

While the MSR mission faces setbacks, lawmakers responsible for NASA’s budget approved the requested $7.91 billion for returning to the Moon, highlighting a divergence in priorities within the space agency’s funding allocations.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Chinese tech companies are now repurposing high-end NVIDIA gaming chips for AI

In response to Washington’s restrictions on the export of high-performance processors, Chinese tech firms are turning to unconventional methods to acquire chips for their artificial intelligence (AI) projects.

NVIDIA gaming graphics cards, designed for PC gaming, are being repurposed as makeshift AI processors, providing a workaround to the scarcity of high-end chips in China.

Factory managers and chip buyers reveal that thousands of NVIDIA gaming graphics cards are being dismantled each month in Chinese factories and workshops. The stripped components are then integrated into new circuit boards, presenting a creative yet desperate solution to the challenges imposed by export controls.

Despite the raw computing power of NVIDIA’s gaming-focused products, industry experts note that they may not match the high-precision calculations required for training certain large language models with extensive datasets.

The limitations of interconnection speeds between chips further complicate efforts to address this issue by forming computing clusters.

Analyst Charlie Chai from research group 86Research describes the move as “a desperate move by Chinese companies under the export controls,” comparing it to using a kitchen knife for artwork—doable, but suboptimal.

The Biden administration’s tightened export controls on cutting-edge AI chips in October have made it more difficult for chip companies like NVIDIA to sell high-performance semiconductors to China. This has led to a surge in demand for the repurposed graphics processing units sourced from NVIDIA gaming cards.

While the repurposed components find buyers among public enterprises and small AI labs, concerns are raised about potential violations of NVIDIA’s intellectual property rights. Moreover, the gaming cards themselves could face bans from being sold to China at any time.

NVIDIA’s response to the export controls includes the release of a slower version of its banned cards, the GeForce RTX 4090 D, complying with the latest regulations. However, industry insiders warn that the modified versions may not be powerful enough for extensive language model training.

In an effort to meet China’s growing demand for AI systems while adhering to export controls, NVIDIA has developed three chips tailored for the Chinese market. Nevertheless, the performance of these chips is reportedly weaker than previous models, and they are not expected to be widely available until March.

Chinese customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the prices set for these inferior processors, prompting some companies to explore alternatives within China’s developing chip ecosystem. In the meantime, others are turning to NVIDIA’s less expensive gaming chips, hoping for successful albeit temporary solutions.

Buyers remain cautiously optimistic, acknowledging the uncertainty of this reinvention but expressing a collective hope that these adapted machines will prove usable, at least in the short term.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Infinix Showcases E-Color Shift, AirCharge, and Extreme-Temp Battery Technologies at CES 2024

Infinix, owned by China's Transsion Holdings, has showcased its latest E-Color Shift technology at the ongoing annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024. The latest technology featuring E-Ink Prism allows smartphone panels to change and maintain colours without consuming power. The company has also revealed its AirCharge and Extreme-Temp Battery concept devices at t...

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Chinese Institute Claims It Cracked Apple's AirDrop to Uncover Sender Email Addresses, Phone Numbers

China can uncover the identities of Apple device owners who send messages and content using AirDrop. A Chinese institute has found a way to uncover both the email addresses and phone numbers of users who send content via AirDrop by decrypting the device log of an iPhone. China has been looking for ways to monitor Apple's AirDrop wireless sharing protocol that has been...

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Samsung Galaxy Book 4 With Microsoft to Allow Using Galaxy Phones as Webcam and More

Samsung Galaxy Book 4 series was unveiled in December 2023. At CES 2024, Samsung announced that these models will offer improved connectivity and AI features thanks to a partnership with Microsoft. The company states that Microsoft's artificial intelligence backing will enable a smarter and more adaptable experience for users on the Galaxy Book 4.

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The Curious Case of Binance, Kraken Disappearing from Apple India’s App Store: Details

A number of foreign crypto exchanges like Binance and Kraken, have seemingly disappeared from Apple India’s App Store. The move seems to be a part of the regulatory efforts that India is undertaking in regards to the crypto sector, aiming to to address concerns related to tax evasion.

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