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| Here are today's top stories: - Riot Games to lay off 11% of staff globally.
- Netflix gains right to stream WWE "Raw."
- France fines Amazon for "excessively intrusive" worker surveillance.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Riot Games, the game studio behind "League of Legends," announced layoffs affecting 530 employees, or about 11% of its global workforce. The Los Angeles-based company, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, will provide a minimum of six months' salary, cash bonuses, and other benefits. More: - In a letter to employees, CEO Dylan Jadeja said Riot's expenses "have grown to the point where they're unsustainable."
- The company doesn't have "a sharp enough focus" and has too many projects underway, while some of its major investments aren't paying off as expected, he wrote.
- The layoffs will primarily affect teams not involved in core development, the company noted.
- Riot is halting new game creation under "Riot Forge" and will reduce staff and features in "Legends of Runeterra."
- This will allow the studio to focus on its live games including "League of Legends," "Valorant," "Teamfight Tactics," and "Wild Rift."
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| 2 | | Netflix will pay over $5B for 10-year streaming rights to WWE's "Raw." For the first time in its 30+-year history, the weekly wrestling show will not be broadcast on a linear TV network. More: - Starting January 2025, Netflix will exclusively stream "Raw" in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Latin America, though it plans to expand to other countries and territories over time.
- Netflix can choose to extend the deal for an additional decade.
- The company also gained the rights to exclusively broadcast all other WWE content internationally, including "SmackDown" and live events like "WrestleMania."
Zoom out: - "Raw," which made its debut in 1993, currently airs on USA Network, where it has 17.5 million annual viewers.
- The deal marks Netflix's first major foray into live sports entertainment and is its first live weekly streaming show.
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| 3 | | France's data privacy watchdog fined Amazon's logistics subsidiary €32M ($35M) for using what it called an "excessively intrusive" employee surveillance system. The French agency, CNIL, said Amazon France Logistique required employees to "justify every break or interruption." The watchdog has accused Amazon of violating the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), specifically around data processing. Details: Amazon's surveillance software monitored warehouse workers' inactivity through a barcode scanner, tracking idle time as brief as one minute by detecting scan pauses. CNIL declared the system illegal under the GDPR, citing poor accuracy and excessive data retention. The agency also deemed software that gauges the scanning speed of items as overly excessive. Response: Amazon disagrees with CNIL's findings and is considering an appeal, a spokesperson said. Amazon isn't unique in using connected warehouse systems, which help to manage workload distribution across teams and warehouses for safer and more efficient order processing, the company said. The bigger picture: It's not the first time Amazon has been fined under the GDPR. In July 2021, Luxembourg's CNPD fined Amazon a then-record €746M ($887M) for its use of customer data in targeted advertising. The highest penalty still goes to Meta Platforms, which was ordered to €1.2B ($1.3B) by the Irish Data Protection Commission for transferring user information to the U.S. Experts say the fines, many of them occurring over the last couple of years, underscore the growing risks for companies that fail to comply with the EU's data privacy regulations. 
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| 4 | | Apple is now rolling out the latest updates for the iPhone and iPad operating systems. iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3, now available to the public, offer a new feature that makes it harder for thieves to access personal data on the devices. More: - The feature, called Stolen Device Protection, adds an extra layer of security.
- The software automatically requires an hour-long delay before changing a passcode if the phone or tablet is in an "unfamiliar location."
- It also requires FaceID in addition to a passcode when an iPhone is not at its usual location.
- The feature comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on scams where an attacker spies on victims, often in bars at night, and observes them type in their passcodes.
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| 5 | | The OnePlus 12 smartphone will launch in the U.S. on Feb. 6, starting at $800 for the model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The company's flagship phone first launched in China in early December. More: - Pre-orders in the U.S. are now open for the OnePlus 12, along with the more budget-friendly OnePlus 12R.
- The latter will officially go on sale on Feb. 13, starting at $500 for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.
- The OnePlus 12 features a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, 6.82-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, up to 24GB of RAM, and a 50-megapixel main camera with Sony's LYT-808 sensor.
- The OnePlus 12R features a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, 256GB storage, and an LTPO 4.0 screen with adaptive refresh rates ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz.
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| 6 | | New Hampshire's attorney general is investigating an AI-generated robocall mimicking President Joe Biden that urged Democrats not to vote in the state's primary election. Biden won't appear on the state's Democratic ballot Tuesday. In a statement, the AG's office said the robocalls appear to be an illegal attempt to disrupt the primary and suppress state voters. More: - In the calls, a voice similar to Biden's claimed voting on Tuesday "only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again."
- The recording mimics Biden by using his common phrase, "What a bunch of malarkey," and advises listeners to "save your vote" for November.
- Listeners were also given the contact info of Kathy Sullivan, a former NH Democratic Party chair and leader of a super PAC urging voters to write in Biden's name in the state primary.
- After hearing the calls, Sullivan filed a complaint with the NH AG's office, saying that "these kinds of tactics, if left unpunished, will only get worse in the future."
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- TikTok has laid off roughly 60 employees, primarily in sales and advertising, as part of a cost-cutting move.
- Apple is asking a London tribunal to dismiss a $1B lawsuit brought by app developers, who accuse the company of charging unfair commissions of up to 30% on in-app purchases in its App Store.
- Samsung has expanded its self-repair program to include 2023 TVs, remotes, and monitors from the past year, as well as second-generation Freestyle projectors, and certain soundbars.
- More than 12,000 parents have signed a petition urging TikTok to label content featuring AI-generated "influencers." The petition cites concerns about unrealistic beauty standards and body image problems for young people.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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