The Walt Disney Company has shuttered its division focused on metaverse initiatives as part of a larger restructuring. The company has laid off the approximately 50 employees who worked at its next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences division, a metaverse-focused unit led by Disney veteran Mike White. More: - White led the team that was charged with developing new and interactive ways and formats to present Disney stories based on its intellectual property.
- He was appointed by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who was fired by the board and succeeded by former CEO Bob Iger in November.
- While White will remain at Disney, it's unclear what his new role will be.
- Around the time he was let go, Chapek emphasized blending the "physical and the digital aspects" of Disney as part of its next-generation storytelling and metaverse plans.
- It's unclear what Iger's long-term plans for the metaverse may be.
- In February, Disney announced plans to cut 7,000 employees across three rounds of layoffs, the first of which is occurring this week.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 
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A labor union has accused Apple of illegally firing five of its retail store employees over their alleged union activities. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed the charges on Monday with the National Labor Relations Board. More: - Apple reportedly attributed the firings to the employees being late and not filling out attendance forms properly.
- The CWA, however, maintains that it was in retaliation for the staffers attempting to organize a union for the last year.
- The charges also allege that store managers held mandatory meetings to discourage employees from unionizing, violating federal labor laws.
- The CWA claims that the employees at an Apple retail store in Kansas City were fired and forced to sign severance agreements that were unlawfully broad.
- Separately, the CWA also claims that Apple interrogated workers at a Houston, Texas location about their support for unions, vowing to improve working conditions if they did not pledge support.
- Apple had yet to comment on the latest charges.
THE WASHINGTON POST
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Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group announced plans to split its business into six independent companies, most of which will be able to seek outside funding and pursue their own IPO. Alibaba said it is the “most significant” restructuring of the technology organization since it was founded in April 1999. More: - Under the plans, Alibaba would break up the company into six smaller business groups, each with its own CEO and board of directors.
- Alibaba said in a statement that the move is “designed to unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness.”
- The groups would be Cloud Intelligence Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Global Digital Commerce Group, and Digital Media and Entertainment Group.
- All the groups, except for Taobao, “will also have the flexibility to raise outside capital and potentially to seek its own IPO," according to Alibaba.
Zoom Out: - In a memo to staff, CEO Daniel Zhang said the aim of the reform is to make Alibaba "more agile" and able to respond faster through shorter "decision-making links."
- Zhang will still serve as chairman and CEO of the larger holding company, as well as take over as CEO of the Cloud Intelligence Group.
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Only verified Twitter accounts will be promoted on the platform's "For You" tab starting on April 15, according to Elon Musk. At that time, only posts that come from paid "Twitter Blue" subscribers will appear on the app's stream of recommended tweets. More: - In the announcement, Musk claimed that the change is the "only realistic way" to prevent advanced artificial intelligence bots from taking over the feed.
- For the same reason, only paid verified accounts will also be able to vote in Twitter polls starting on April 15, he wrote.
- The moves could limit tweet amplification on the For You page to those accounts willing to pay, such as businesses and brands.
- Unverified accounts are still expected to be visible in the "Following" feed of tweets from accounts that the user follows.
- Last week, Twitter announced that "legacy" verified accounts will no longer be eligible for the iconic blue checkmark unless they sign up for a paid subscription starting on April 1.
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Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer said they plan to step down from their day-to-day responsibilities at the ride-sharing giant. David Risher, a former Amazon executive, and CEO of the non-profit Worldreader, will take over as Lyft's next chief executive. More: - Risher has served on Lyft’s board of directors since July 2021
- Green, who is CEO, and Zimmer, who is president, will remain on the board after they step down from those positions.
- Green will take over as board chair and Zimmer will become vice chair.
- In 2012, Zimmer and Green founded Lyft, which formed as part of a project to develop a mobile version of their existing peer-to-peer ride-sharing firm, Zimride.
- By 2013, Lyft was providing 30,000 rides per week. It became the first ride-hailing startup to go public in 2019, beating out its competitor Uber.
- As of May 2022, Lyft claimed 28% of its U.S. ridesharing market behind Uber's 72%.
*NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Uber. THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Zoom has partnered with OpenAI to bring more AI features to its video conferencing app. The company is adding AI-powered meeting summaries and more to its Zoom IQ conversation assistant. More: - The AI tool automatically provides summaries of meetings, including sessions that a user missed.
- It also posts the meeting recaps on Zoom Team Chat.
- The platform is also adding AI chat and email compose features, which rely on generative AI to write messages and generate responses to colleagues.
- The AI features will open up to "select customers" on an invite-only basis starting in April. Zoom also plans to introduce some of the meeting summary features on a broader basis.
Zoom Out: TECHRADAR
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- The Japan Fair Trade Commission, its competitor regulator, has approved Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition following a review that found it would not substantially reduce competition.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. 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. | |
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