• Amazon.com Inc. said it plans to lay off 9,000 more employees across its corporate workforce, including cuts across its cloud computing and advertising businesses, as part of an effort by Chief Executive Andy Jassy to “be more streamlined in our costs and head count.” The cuts follow an initial round of layoffs in January that saw the e-commerce giant shed 18,000 positions. (The Wall Street Journal)
• The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to take action on several investigations into Amazon’s business practices in the coming months, including a potential challenge to the company’s $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot Corp., according to people with direct knowledge of the investigations. The FTC is also working on privacy investigations into Amazon’s Ring security cameras and Alexa voice assistants and may pursue an antitrust case targeting potential anti-competitive behavior in its retail operations, ranging from service bundling to using competitor data to its own advantage, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the investigations. (Politico)
• Researchers from OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania posted a research paper to a preprint server that found 80% of the U.S. workforce could have at least 10% of its work affected by large language model tools like ChatGPT, and 19% of workers can expect at least 50% of their tasks to be affected by the technology. The paper, which looked at more than 1,000 occupations, determined that industries like data processing services, information services, publishing industries and insurance carriers are likely to have the highest exposure to the technology, while food manufacturing and wood product manufacturing will be among the least affected. (Motherboard)
• Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote a letter to the executives of OpenAI, Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc. asking for details as to how the companies plan to protect children from potential harms presented by generative AI tools like chatbots. Bennet wrote in the letter that “the race to deploy generative AI cannot come at the expense of our children” and is seeking answers to a number of questions about user safety from the companies by April 28. (Bloomberg)

Happening today: 

• Adobe Summit will kick off in Las Vegas for its three-day conference focused on the digital economy. Speakers include Marcus East, executive vice president and chief digital officer at T-Mobile US Inc.; Shantanu Narayen, chief executive of Adobe Inc.; and writer and director Aaron Sorkin, who will lead a session on walk and talks.
• The Center for Data Innovation will host an event titled “AI-Generated Art: Boom or Bust for Human Creativity?” that will discuss how generative AI works, how artists are using these tools and what it means for the future of creative fields. Speakers include Irene Solaiman, policy director at AI firm Hugging Face Inc.; and Brigitte Vézina, director of policy at Creative Commons.

Tech workforces: how low can they go?

Financial Times

Uber, Lyft trade group questions Biden’s labor nominee’s gig workers stance

Nandita Bose, Reuters

Rideshare and delivery companies want the Biden administration’s nominee for the Department of Labor to clarify her position on an incoming worker-classification rule that could expand workers’ rights, a trade group representing the companies said on Monday.

FDIC to break up SVB, seeks separate sale of private unit

Manya Saini, Reuters

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Monday decided to break up Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and hold two separate auctions for its traditional deposits unit and its private bank after failing to find a buyer for the failed lender last week.

Google denies destroying ‘chat’ evidence in U.S. antitrust lawsuit

Mike Scarella, Reuters

Alphabet Inc’s Google has denied intentionally destroying evidence in the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit over the company’s search business, in a response to the government’s bid for sanctions in federal court.

China gives chipmakers new powers to guide industry recovery

Qianer Liu, Financial Times

Under US pressure, Beijing is changing strategy and relying on a select group of companies to shape its domestic sector.

EU competition chief flags fresh probes into multinationals’ tax deals

Foo Yun Chee, Reuters

EU regulators are likely to open investigations into tax deals between EU countries and multinationals after reviewing their arrangements in the previous decade, the bloc’s competition chief warned on Monday.

Microsoft’s EU remedies target only cloud streaming rivals, sources says

Foo Yun Chee, Reuters

Microsoft Corp’s remedies to address European Union antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision focus only on cloud gaming services, with no mention of rival Sony, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

OpenAI Shut Down ChatGPT to Fix Bug Exposing User Chat Titles

Rachel Metz, Bloomberg

OpenAI temporarily shut down its popular ChatGPT service on Monday morning after receiving reports of a bug that allowed some users to see the titles of other users’ chat histories.

OpenAI-powered app from Microsoft will instantly transcribe patient notes during doctor visits

Ashley Capoot, CNBC

Microsoft’s speech recognition subsidiary Nuance Communications on Monday announced Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Express, a clinical notes application for health-care workers powered by artificial intelligence.

Nvidia set to reveal new AI technologies at annual conference

Stephen Nellis, Reuters

Nvidia Corp Chief Executive Jensen Huang is expected on Tuesday to disclose new artificial intelligence chips and technologies at the company’s annual conference for software developers.

Generative AI’s Next Frontier Is Video

Rachel Metz, Bloomberg

A simple prompt can generate a three-second video on a new AI tool from the startup Runway, hinting at a future of AI-created films and videos.

Ikea adds stock-counting drones to more of its stores

Emma Roth, The Verge

Ikea’s Verity-branded drones now count inventory in 16 locations throughout Europe.

In San Francisco, some people wonder when A.I. will kill us all

Kif Leswing, CNBC

Underlying all the recent hype about AI, industry participants are engaging in furious debates about how to prepare for an AI that’s so powerful it can take control of itself.

Ericsson exec predicts network slicing will be a reality in 2023

Sue Marek, Fierce Wireless

Will 2023 finally be the year of network slicing, the technology that makes it possible for operators to manipulate the network on the fly and provide different virtual slices of the network to different customers?  In the early days of 5G, network slicing was heralded as one of the big reasons that operators should migrate their networks from 4G to 5G.

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro.

Samsung wins jury trial in ‘S10’ trademark lawsuit

Blake Brittain, Reuters

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd convinced a Los Angeles federal jury on Friday that its Galaxy S10 phones do not violate the trademark rights of a talent-management agency that also uses the “S10” name.

Consumers are splurging on premium smartphones amid tough economic conditions, report says

Ivan Mehta, TechCrunch

Amid the declining smartphone market, premium devices are having their moment. These pricy devices made up more than half of the worldwide smartphone market’s revenue, according to a report from Counterpoint.

Meta Manager Was Hacked With Spyware and Wiretapped in Greece

Matina Stevis-Gridneff, The New York Times

Artemis Seaford, a dual U.S.-Greek national, was targeted with a cyberespionage tool while also under a wiretap by the Greek spy agency in a case that shows the spread of illicit snooping in Europe.

Ferrari Says Ransomware Attack Exposed Clients’ Names, Email

Daniele Lepido, Bloomberg

Ferrari NV said it was hit by a ransomware attack that exposed information on the Italian sports car maker’s customers.

Google flags apps made by popular Chinese e-commerce giant as malware

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, TechCrunch

On Monday, Google announced that it had flagged several apps made by a Chinese e-commerce giant as malware, alerting users who had them installed, and suspended the company’s official app.

All Social Media Platforms Have TikTok-Like Risks, Transparency Group Says

Anna Edgerton, Bloomberg

The national-security and mental-health risks posed by TikTok are shared by other social media platforms, according to an advocacy group that’s urging Congress to also hold US companies accountable ahead of high-profile testimony from TikTok’s chief executive officer. 

Facebook political microtargeting at center of GDPR complaints in Germany

Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch

In its latest piece of strategic litigation, the precision-punching European privacy rights campaign group noyb has used data donated by users of the ‘Who Targets me‘ browser extension, which analyzes political microtargeting on Facebook, to build a case against every political party in Germany — for what it alleges is unlawful processing of voters’ personal data via Facebook’s adtech platform during the 2021 federal elections.

TikTok bans deepfakes of nonpublic figures and fake endorsements in rule refresh

James Vincent, The Verge

TikTok says all realistic AI deepfakes must be ‘clearly disclosed.’ The app’s content policies are being updated as political pressure on Chinese parent company ByteDance grows.

Italy’s Antitrust probes TikTok over ‘French scar’ dangerous content

Cristina Carlevaro, Reuters

Italy’s antitrust authority said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into the Chinese-owned app TikTok as it allegedly breaches its rules by allowing the publication of “dangerous content” inciting suicide, self-harm and poor nutrition.

The TikTok Investors With the Most to Lose From a U.S. Ban

Juro Osawa, The Information

For venture investors that have collectively invested more than $8 billion in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, the fate of the video app in the U.S., where officials are seeking changes to its ownership, could mean the difference between a huge portfolio win and a soul-crushing loss.

Content moderators sue Meta over alleged ‘union-busting’ in Kenya

Aaron Ross and Ayenat Mersie, Reuters

Facebook content moderators in Kenya are suing the social media site’s parent company Meta and two outsourcing companies for unlawful redundancy, a rights group said on Monday.

How Tumblr turned social media polls into a game design challenge

Jess Weatherbed, The Verge

Home cooking, history, and horniness: Tumblr’s on-brand creative mayhem has adapted polls into a simple gaming platform.

Twitter testing government ID-based verification, new screenshots show

Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

Twitter appears to be testing a new verification process for Twitter Blue subscribers that would involve submitting a government ID. Code-level insights reveal a process for sending in a photo of the user’s ID, both front and back, along with a selfie photo to verify their Twitter account.

Strains Emerge Inside the Union That Beat Amazon

Noam Scheiber, The New York Times

Nearly a year after its victory on Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union is grappling with election losses and internal conflict.

Amazon Delivery Firms Say Racial Bias Skews Customer Reviews

Spencer Soper and Matt Day, Bloomberg

Time and again, they say, drivers of color get worse feedback than their White counterparts. The ratings help determine pay and employment.

Deliveroo accused of hitting earning power of riders

Ian Johnston, Financial Times

Company blocks third-party app that lets gig economy workers compare fares across rival delivery platforms.

Apple Seeks India Labor Reform in Push to Diversify Beyond China

Sankalp Phartiyal, Bloomberg

Apple Inc. is seeking changes in India’s labor laws as part of its effort to expand local production, and regional governments are yielding to its request as they are eager to snatch iPhone assembly from China.

Amazon’s post-Bezos experiment hasn’t gone exactly as planned

Annie Palmer, CNBC

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s tenure so far has been marred by slowing growth, a tumbling stock price and multiple rounds of job cuts.