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FTC accuses Microsoft of misrepresenting its Activision Blizzard plans after layoffs
07 Feb

FTC accuses Microsoft of misrepresenting its Activision Blizzard plans after layoffs

John RoutledgeLatest News
One week after Microsoft laid off nearly 2,000 employees in its gaming division, the Federal Trade Commission is accusing Microsoft of contradicting its pledge to allow Activision Blizzard to operate independently post-acquisition. The FTC filed a complaint in a federal appeals court on Wednesday, arguing that last week's downsizing, which affected employees of Activision Blizzard, "contradicts Microsoft’s representations in this…
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Microsoft redesigns Copilot for the web and mobile
07 Feb

Microsoft redesigns Copilot for the web and mobile

John RoutledgeLatest News
One year after fully embracing generative AI chatbots, Microsoft is giving Copilot a fresh lick of paint. Copilot now has a more streamlined design on the web and in its mobile apps. The company says there's a cleaner look and feel for the chatbot's responses, while Copilot will display a carousel of suggested prompts to highlight what it can do.The…
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The Biden administration now requires large cryptocurrency miners to report their energy use
07 Feb

The Biden administration now requires large cryptocurrency miners to report their energy use

John RoutledgeLatest News
The Biden administration recently announced that it would be requiring large cryptocurrency mining operations to report electricity usage, via a press release from The Energy Information Administration. This follows concerns that the industry could pose a threat to the nation’s electricity grids and hasten the impacts of climate change.To that end, the EIA has targeted 137 “identified commercial cryptocurrency miners”…
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is laying off 570 workers
07 Feb

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is laying off 570 workers

John RoutledgeLatest News
Even NASA is not immune to layoffs. The agency says it's cutting around 530 employees from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California amid budget uncertainty. That's eight percent of the facility's workforce. JPL is laying off about 40 contractors too, just weeks after imposing a hiring freeze and canning 100 other contractors. Workers are being informed of their fates…
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Layoffs are sucking the joy out of video games | This week’s gaming news
07 Feb

Layoffs are sucking the joy out of video games | This week’s gaming news

John RoutledgeLatest News
The production pipeline for mainstream video games has always been hectic. The AAA factory is powered by rigid marketing plans and periods of soul-sucking crunch, and while this process has resulted in incredible games over the years, it's also been detrimental to developers' mental health and long-term job stability. Layoffs have long been baked into the video game industry, but…
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