Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Russia Declares Meta as Terrorist & Extremist Organization
Believe it or not. The U.S. tech giant Meta has just now been declared as a terrorist and extremist organization. And there is obviously no prices for guessing which country has done this. It is obviously Russia, which is currently been boycotted by all big American and non-American companies for waging war against Ukraine. However, the latest development won’t make much difference for Meta since Russia had already banned all Meta platforms including Facebook & Instagram way back in March itself. Russia has long accused Meta of prompting and spreading anti-Russian propaganda through its platform. Russia has officially termed this propaganda as ‘Russiaphobia.’
2)
TikTok owner ByteDance Goes for a Share BuyBack Option
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has initiated a second share buyback buyback option for employees this year. But the more important news is that this time ByteDance is buying the shares at a much higher price than the previous one. This should bring a windfall of profit for the company employees. The Chinese company is hopeful that this will help in motivating its employees amid severe slowdown and the economic uncertainties that lies ahead as it prepares for its much anticipated IPO next year. TikTok currently has one billion monthly active users and is now ranked among the top 5 social media apps in the world.
3)
Intel is planning for a Massive Layoff
Chip making giant Intel is planning to reduce its headcounts and the layoff numbers is expected to be in thousands. Intel has been forced to take the decision in the wake of persistent slowdown in the personal computer market. According to Bloomberg, Intel will be announcing the layoff as early as this month itself and the marketing and sales departments are likely to be most affected by this layoff. In all, Intel is expected to reduce its headcount by nearly 20%. The company currently has more than 1 lakh employees across the world. Intel has refused to comment on the job cut report.
4)
Elon Musk launches Perfume Brand “Brunt Hair”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is currently the richest man in the world, has now become a perfume salesman. This may sound little crazy but it is sort of true. The thing is that Musk has just launched his own perfume line called ‘Brunt Hair.’ The tech billionaire took to Twitter to announce its launch. This perfume has been priced at $100 and you can buy this perfume even with the help of a crypto. By the way, Musk has even changed his Twitter bio to ‘perfume salesman.’ Go and check it out.
5)
CNN shuts its NFT project Vault
News channel and cable network company CNN seems to have run out of patience for its web 3 and NFT project Vault. CNN had launched Vault last year, hoping to cash on the NFT boom. But with NFT boom cooling down, the company decided to pull the plug on its short lived experiment with NFT. The sales of Non-fungible tokens has been crashing severely since past few months, with OpenSea (the largest NFT marketplace) witnessing a significant drop in its sales since the beginning of this year.