Here are the top trending news from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Twitter lays off thousands of contract employees without notice
The chaotic mass layoff at Twitter continues. After laying off nearly 50% employees at the microblogging company, Elon Musk has now turned the heat on the contract employees. According to media reports, since the last weekend the microblogging company has started laying off contractual employees in great numbers. And as it was the case with full-time employees, Twitter has reportedly laid off contractual employees without proper notice. Experts claim that removing contract workers will severely impact Twitter’s ability to moderate content. Content moderation, by the way, is one of Musk’s top priorities as he tries to bring sweeping changes in the micro blogging company.
2)
Disney Freezes Hiring & may opt for Lay offs
America’s multinational mass media company Disney has said it will now go slow on hiring and may even opt for layoffs. In a letter written to company’s top employees, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek has stated that the company will opt for cost cutting measures in order to achieve profitability for its streaming business Disney+. Although Disney+ plus brought on board nearly 12.1 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter, its operating loss increased from $0.8 Bn to $1.5 Bn. Disney Plus was launched in 2019 as the company sought to increase its revenue channel by emphasis on the new age OTT platform.
3)
Jeff Bezos plans to give most of his $124 Bn fortune
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who currently ranks fourth in Forbes list of billionaires, has said that he will give most of his $124 Bn fortune to charity. Talking in a CNN interview, Bezos said that he plans to use his wealth to fight climate change and to fight societal divisions in the American society. As per media report, Bezos and his current girl friend Lauren Sanchez have also given $100 Mn to pop icon Dolly Parton as part of their charity work. Bezos had committed $10 Bn dollars to Bezos Earth Fund in 2020 as part of his mission to help the world in helping climate change and global warming.
4)
SpaceX has booked a big ad campaign on Twitter
Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has reportedly just bought a huge advertising campaign on Twitter. As per CNBC, SpaceX has bought the ad campaign to promote Starlink’s satellite internet services in Spain and Australia. Starlink is the subsidiary firm of SpaceX. According to this ad plan, Starlink’s ads will remain on top of the Twitter timeline for an entire day. Twitter calls this ad plan “takeover” and charges whopping $250,000 from the brands who wish to avail the advertising service under this package. Starlink ad package deal has come at a time when many top brands have chosen to suspend their advertising deal since Elon Musk took over the company.
5)
India lifts ban on VLC media players
Indian government has decided to lift the ban on the popular video media player VLC. The Indian government said that this decision has been taken after it found that VLC was now complying with data privacy rules. VLC media player was mysteriously banned nearly 9 months ago, which evoked surprise and attracted flaks as well as criticism on the social media platform. Back then, VLC had claimed that the ban was placed all of a sudden and the Indian government did not give any notice with regards to the same. VLC media player is basically an open source software and is used by nearly 80 Mn Indians.