Bloomberg reports that Twitter will lay off 50% of its staff, or about 3,700 people, starting on Friday to further cut costs. The publication says details of severance payments are still being worked out, which could affect the number of employees who are let go. More: - The news comes after Elon Musk's takeover of the company was finalized on Oct. 27.
- At that time, some reports stated that Musk had planned to cut 75% of Twitter's workforce, which the CEO later denied.
- However, Bloomberg's report says that Musk plans to cut half of Twitter's workforce and is considering an offer of 60 days' worth of severance pay.
- Musk is also reportedly planning to require most remote employees back into the office, reversing Twitter's "work from anywhere" policy instituted during the pandemic.
- Last week, Musk fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, policy chief Vijaya Gadde, general counsel Sean Edgett, and chief customer officer Sarah Personette. Some VPs and directors also left or were let go over the past week.
BLOOMBERG 
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Digital payments startup Stripe is reducing its headcount by 14%, or about 1,100 jobs, in order to rein in costs, according to a company memo. In the email to employees on Thursday, co-founders Patrick and John Collison attributed the layoffs to macroeconomic conditions including higher interest rates, energy prices, and inflation. More: - The job cuts will take effect this week and reduce the company's headcount to about 7,000 employees, they said.
- Most of the cuts will affect Stripe's recruiting division, though other units will also be affected.
- In the email, the Collison brothers acknowledged that they were "too optimistic" about the near-term growth of the internet economy in 2022 and 2023 and underestimated the chances of a big slowdown.
- Stripe "grew operating costs too quickly," they conceded, opening the door for operational inefficiencies and other issues to affect the company.
Zoom-out: - In March 2021, Stripe raised a $600M funding round that valued the startup at $95B.
- The company's software, which enables brands to accept payments over the internet, processed $640B last year.
- This past April, Stripe and Twitter said they would test out crypto payments for creators.
COINDESK
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Save Your Spot
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Ukraine’s digital minister said the country is seeking new partners to provide satellite communication tools beyond SpaceX's Starlink. Although Starlink continues to provide satellite internet service without issue, Ukraine is still searching for other providers, according to Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the country's deputy prime ministers. More: - Starlink has "worked, is working, and will definitely work" in Ukraine, Fedorov said during today's Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon.
- However, the country uses other satellite communication tools offered by other operators, not only SpaceX, he said.
- Reports recently surfaced of a blackout during a Russian assault. Some Ukrainians also have reported outages in their internet service.
- Fedorov said he joined the Web Summit in part to seek "new partnerships and engage with new partners" for satellite communication tools that support IT infrastructure.
Zoom-out: - Last month, CEO Elon Musk reversed course and said that SpaceX will continue to fund its Starlink internet service in Ukraine at a cost of $20M per month.
- The announcement came shortly after SpaceX asked the Pentagon to take over payments for the satellite internet in the war-torn country.
- SpaceX began supplying the service to Ukraine in February and has so far donated at least 20,000 Starlink satellite terminals.
REUTERS
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Amazon said it will roll out Matter integration, the universal smart home standard, starting with 17 Echo devices, bulbs, plugs, and switches in December. Matter is a new interoperability standard that enables smart home gadgets from different consumer electronics companies to communicate locally without requiring a cloud connection. More: - The standard enables devices to communicate through this "universal language" using Thread, an IP-based protocol, along with Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
- Amazon said it will integrate Matter over Wi-Fi for 17 devices by the end of this year.
- The launch will begin with an Android-based setup and follow with iOS in early 2023.
- It will also add Matter over Thread support in early 2023 for 30 Eero and Echo devices, which account for roughly 100 million devices worldwide.
Zoom Out: - Other smart home platforms that support or will support Matter include Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.
- The long-delayed standard was released in October. During a Matter launch event today, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), said more than 190 devices and products are certified or nearly certified in the first categories, which include smart plugs, lighting, sensors, and locks.
- The CSA and members expect many more Matter-compatible smart home devices in 2023.
THE VERGE
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On Wednesday, Holoride announced the launch of its in-vehicle virtual reality gaming platform in Germany. The immersive software and hardware platform will work with some Audi vehicles at first before expanding to other car models. More: - Holoride's $690 platform, designed for vehicle passengers, includes an HTC Vive Flow VR headset, a controller, and access to its software catalog.
- The system works by synchronizing games and videos played through the headset to the motion of the car.
- To accomplish this, Holoride-compatible vehicles share some driving data via Bluetooth.
- The car's motion is incorporated as action sequences in a VR game, for example, or used to stabilize the display view during a video to reduce motion sickness.
- Munich-based Holoride, an Audi spinoff, is selling the system as an add-on package for vehicles in Germany starting in mid-November.
- The company intends to launch the platform in the U.S. early next year.
VENTUREBEAT
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Popular photo editor Picsart has added an AI-powered image generator and a copywriter to its app. Picsart says it now has more than 150 million monthly active users. Last year, it ranked 19th on the list of the most downloaded apps. More: - Picsart's new AI Image Generator is based on its own in-house technology and the open-source Stable Diffusion art creation model.
- Users can type in descriptive text, and the tool generates an image "in seconds."
- They can also edit the image directly within the Picsart app.
- In addition to iOS, this feature is available on Picsart's Web Editor.
- Meanwhile, Picsart's new AI Writer generates copy for ads, social media bios, and marketing.
- Users enter a few prompts and select and tone and voice for the copy.
- The tool, accessible via web browsers in Picsart's Quicktools, is based on OpenAI's well-known GPT-3 language model and text generator.
TECHCRUNCH
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- Apple is reportedly growing a team of developers to build mixed- and virtual-reality games.
- 36% of consumers are planning to purchase at least one technology product during the holidays, according to The NPD Group’s annual Holiday Purchase Intentions report.
- Snap partnered with Amazon to bring its glasses library to the social media platform. Snapchat users can now virtually try on an array of Amazon Fashion glasses before purchasing.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Constructor is the company building revenue-driving on-site search and discovery solutions for digital merchandisers. | |
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