Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Amazon confirms fresh round of layoffs, eliminating 9,000 jobs at AWS
Internet giant Amazon on Monday announced a second round of layoff citing the prolong economic recession and uncertainty that lies ahead. Amazon’s cloud unit AWS and subsidiary gaming company Twitch took a major hit in the latest job cuts with 9,000 jobs gone from AWS alone. AWS has always been a major cash cow for Amazon and the mass layoffs in one of its profitable units clearly indicates the worsening impact of economic recession. Few months back, Amazon had laid of almost 18,0000 employees in what was one of the biggest layoffs in the history of e-commerce. Leaving aside Apple, almost all big tech companies have trimmed their workforce to fight off economic downturn.
2)
Microsoft is testing Crypto Wallet in Edge Browser
Microsoft, which recently has been in news for ChatGPT integration into Bing and Edge, may soon add a crypto wallet feature into its Edge browser. Several Twitter users have shared screenshots of the Edge’s UI. According to these screenshots, Edge is testing an in-built Ethereum crypto wallet feature in its Edge browser for users to store, send and receive NFTs and cryptocurrency. Unconfirmed reports further claim that the wallet is non-custodial and is integrated into Edge’s existing wallet feature for storing payment cards.
3)
TikTok now has 150 Mn monthly users in the U.S.
TikTok may be facing imminent risk of a nationwide ban in the U.S but its growing popularity among the American teenagers is all too self-evident. TikTok said on Monday that it now has 150 Mn monthly active users in the U.S, an increase from the 100 Mn it claimed to have in 2020. Few weeks back the American senate cleared a legislation that called for immediate ban on the popular Chinese short video app due to the threat of data surveillance. TikTok has also said that the Biden government is putting pressure to split from the Chinese parent company Bytedance.
4)
Baidu’s AI Chatbot refuses to give information on Chinese President XI
Last week Chinese search engine giant Baidu unveiled its own AI chatbot called ‘Ernie’ in response to ChatGPT’s sensational success. To demonstrate Ernie’s capabilities, Baidu allowed selected users to access Ernie. While many users posted positive reviews about Ernie’s human like responses to many queries but claimed that it maintained an eerie silence when asked about Chinese president Xi Jinping. Users claimed that Ernie responded that it does not have sufficient information about ‘Xi’ when prompted to reply a query about the Chinese President. Many are claiming that Ernie’s diplomatic silence is yet another reminder about Chinese government’s overbearing censorship on internet and internet companies.
5)
Apple Pay enters the South Korean market
After facing regulatory hurdles for several months, Apple users in South Korea will finally get to use Apple Pay. Like in all other markets, Apple Pay will be available only on IOS and Apple devices including iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. Apple Pay’s entry in the South Korean market is likely to heat things up as Google’s payment service Google Pay is also trying hard to enter the Korean market. Google Pay has already become a dominant online payment service in India where along with PhonePe has become a default choice for online payment in India.