Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 the problem is. They have nothing else to induce growth. So they throw money on a bet and hope it will work.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
They are sacking people because the tokens the AI customers are using cost something like nine or $12 for every dollar they receive as payment.
Internally, I think Microsoft imposed token austerity.
It seems very much that these companies are eating themselves alive. Unless the reporting I’ve listened to is somehow missing something this is even more bizarre than the tulip craze.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 This is a business move that deserves to bankrupt the corporations doing it. Hundreds of thousands of people being sacked, with less alternative employment opportunities available to them, and unemployment assistance/other supports being cut repeatedly does not make for a healthy economy or country. Add in the hostility experienced if they emigrate to try and improve their lives. Why are governments rushing to embrace this dangerous technology?
-
@ChrisMayLA6 This is a business move that deserves to bankrupt the corporations doing it. Hundreds of thousands of people being sacked, with less alternative employment opportunities available to them, and unemployment assistance/other supports being cut repeatedly does not make for a healthy economy or country. Add in the hostility experienced if they emigrate to try and improve their lives. Why are governments rushing to embrace this dangerous technology?
Its a good Q; primary I'd say, workers are being sacrificed on the altar of (claimed) productivity gains.... and this reflects (as indicated by an earlier posts today) that Govt.s misunderstand where the productivity problems lie - not with workers, but with management & the deficiencies of the 'care economy'
-
Its a good Q; primary I'd say, workers are being sacrificed on the altar of (claimed) productivity gains.... and this reflects (as indicated by an earlier posts today) that Govt.s misunderstand where the productivity problems lie - not with workers, but with management & the deficiencies of the 'care economy'
Productivity calculated as were reducing our forces because the productivity technology is costing nine or 12 times as much as we get in revenue.
Truly revolution, where the laws of physics no longer applied to business in any way shape or form. Maybe productivity was assigned integer and they just rolled over max positive value or something.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 I am that person who actively poisons AI.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 So humans are progressively shut out of economic as well as semantic loops, the algorithms talk to and copy each other... A weaving machine so perfect it no longer needs thread, nor makes cloth? https://thesinisterscience.wordpress.com/2021/01/11/frederik-pohls-mass-consumer-1-the-midas-plague/
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
FOMO.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 Meta-stasising
-
System shared this topic
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
Monopolising data sources is a race because there's a limited supply, a bit like space for LEO satellites.
All of these companies are monopolists at heart and as a nation the US is trying to monopolise data capture like any other global resource.
-
@ChrisMayLA6 This is a business move that deserves to bankrupt the corporations doing it. Hundreds of thousands of people being sacked, with less alternative employment opportunities available to them, and unemployment assistance/other supports being cut repeatedly does not make for a healthy economy or country. Add in the hostility experienced if they emigrate to try and improve their lives. Why are governments rushing to embrace this dangerous technology?
Why are governments embracing AI?
Because they value corporate profits over the wellbeing of their citizenry (IMO). They fear a massive financial drain if they aren't competitive with the US in encouraging AI replacement of human workers.
Also, they fear even greater dependence on US-based technology dependence.
But what will society be with mass unemployment and hallucinating machines making most decisions?
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
@ChrisMayLA6 By shedding workforce, they say they are going to invest into "AI" initiatives, but in the end that cash could also be more easily redirected/hoarded/frozen in order to survive the bubble popping. Could they be preparing in advance for a crash? I wonder if this isn't another sign of the impending bubble collapse.
-
Both Meta & Microsoft have said they're shedding staff explicitly to free up cash flow to invest in AI;
on one level this is unemployment linked to technology, but its a bit different from *actual* technological unemployment - the latter sees people losing jobs due to the deployment of technology to do their jobs. Microsoft & Meta on the other hand are sacking people to take a (bigger) punt on a business strategy that is yet to prove its transformation of productivity.
I was at Microsoft when the pandemic hit. Amy Hood told all of the employees that they were not going to rush into hiring (unlike many competitors) because they wanted sustainable growth. Hiring people to deal with a spike in demand and then firing them when the spike subsides would be bad for everyone, she said.
Since then, Microsoft has got rid of about 20% of the workforce. That counts only people in the big redundancy rounds. A lot of people I respected left voluntarily and they ended the policy that orgs reclaim headcount when people leave and so can hire replacements: if someone left, you needed to explicitly request new headcount from your management to get a replacement. A lot of the folks who left had their role filled by promoting someone else, who was then not replaced.
The culture of lying to management means that the senior leadership has no idea how under resourced most of the critical revenue-generating business units are. Anyone who tells them anything other than ‘everything is great, I bet we don’t even need all of the people we have!’ gets a reduced bonus and learns not to do it again.
The company reminded me of a dead oak tree. It looks strong from the outside but a single storm could knock the whole thing down.
-
Productivity calculated as were reducing our forces because the productivity technology is costing nine or 12 times as much as we get in revenue.
Truly revolution, where the laws of physics no longer applied to business in any way shape or form. Maybe productivity was assigned integer and they just rolled over max positive value or something.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @ChrisMayLA6 @HarriettMB
AI is a fascist loss leader.
Like cheap chicken at a grocery store, it brings in the rubes & achieves other aims, like subscribers.
https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/how-costco-turns-loss-leaders-into-an-art-form-and-why-your-business-might-want-to-copy-them/91270572https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ai-utility-electricity-water-openai-2026-3
It's achieving other oligarchic goals.
Just as Koch kept awful rideshare companies like Uber & Lyfft afloat for years, to torpedo public transit projects.
https://jacobin.com/2019/08/uber-koch-brothers-david-charles-rideshare-public-transithttps://jacobin.com/2022/07/uber-files-leak-global-war-workers-lobbying
1/
-
Why are governments embracing AI?
Because they value corporate profits over the wellbeing of their citizenry (IMO). They fear a massive financial drain if they aren't competitive with the US in encouraging AI replacement of human workers.
Also, they fear even greater dependence on US-based technology dependence.
But what will society be with mass unemployment and hallucinating machines making most decisions?
I suspect that there's a lot of political and financial pressure to adopt US corporate technology generally and AI is a big part of that because of the huge investments.
It's a big gamble.
-
I was at Microsoft when the pandemic hit. Amy Hood told all of the employees that they were not going to rush into hiring (unlike many competitors) because they wanted sustainable growth. Hiring people to deal with a spike in demand and then firing them when the spike subsides would be bad for everyone, she said.
Since then, Microsoft has got rid of about 20% of the workforce. That counts only people in the big redundancy rounds. A lot of people I respected left voluntarily and they ended the policy that orgs reclaim headcount when people leave and so can hire replacements: if someone left, you needed to explicitly request new headcount from your management to get a replacement. A lot of the folks who left had their role filled by promoting someone else, who was then not replaced.
The culture of lying to management means that the senior leadership has no idea how under resourced most of the critical revenue-generating business units are. Anyone who tells them anything other than ‘everything is great, I bet we don’t even need all of the people we have!’ gets a reduced bonus and learns not to do it again.
The company reminded me of a dead oak tree. It looks strong from the outside but a single storm could knock the whole thing down.
We must all use LINUX then!
-
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @ChrisMayLA6 @HarriettMB
AI is a fascist loss leader.
Like cheap chicken at a grocery store, it brings in the rubes & achieves other aims, like subscribers.
https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/how-costco-turns-loss-leaders-into-an-art-form-and-why-your-business-might-want-to-copy-them/91270572https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ai-utility-electricity-water-openai-2026-3
It's achieving other oligarchic goals.
Just as Koch kept awful rideshare companies like Uber & Lyfft afloat for years, to torpedo public transit projects.
https://jacobin.com/2019/08/uber-koch-brothers-david-charles-rideshare-public-transithttps://jacobin.com/2022/07/uber-files-leak-global-war-workers-lobbying
1/
2/
1. It's money laundering for petrostate despots & other oligarchs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-06/saudis-plan-100-billion-ai-powerhouse-to-rival-uae-s-tech-hubSimilar to how Russia looted its national treasury & used Trump & Deutsche Bank to launder it via real estate.
Citizens go homeless in overpriced housing markets, so billionaire private equity can launder their loot in residential real estate.
Zuckerberg blew $77 billion on the Metaverse to launder cash & so still kept his job.
2. AI is fascist international state surveillance & is wasting energy
-
2/
1. It's money laundering for petrostate despots & other oligarchs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-06/saudis-plan-100-billion-ai-powerhouse-to-rival-uae-s-tech-hubSimilar to how Russia looted its national treasury & used Trump & Deutsche Bank to launder it via real estate.
Citizens go homeless in overpriced housing markets, so billionaire private equity can launder their loot in residential real estate.
Zuckerberg blew $77 billion on the Metaverse to launder cash & so still kept his job.
2. AI is fascist international state surveillance & is wasting energy
3/
Microsoft and Google may have to surrender people's data to Saudi Arabia after signing huge deals there
Saudi Arabia is seeking to be an innovation hub, but activists are warning that tech firms could be complicit in the repression of dissidents.
Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com)
https://www.wired.com/story/power-bills-in-the-us-are-soaring-and-will-rise-further-still/
Trump and the Energy Industry Are Eager to Power AI With Fossil Fuels
At a Pittsburgh summit, the Trump administration, energy executives, and tech barons joined as one to promote AI as the future of fossil fuels.
WIRED (www.wired.com)
3. AI is going to be the next Russian Internet Research Agency for election meddling & hack-for-hire disinformation.
Five Billionaires Pledged $1 Billion To Boost Economic Mobility Using AI
Five of America’s top philanthropists are teaming up for a new venture aimed at helping low-income Americans rise from poverty. An AI giant has signed on to help.
Forbes (www.forbes.com)
These folks have never given two hoots for worker's "economic mobility". NextLadder is forced user adoption & malign influence.
-
I suspect that there's a lot of political and financial pressure to adopt US corporate technology generally and AI is a big part of that because of the huge investments.
It's a big gamble.
@ReggieHere @HarriettMB @ChrisMayLA6
Correct. Corey Doctorow has written about the decades of US trade policy that pushes US tech dominance.
But Trump has made it clear to every nation that relying on America (for anything) is doomed to fail.
