Tesla to lay off 10% workforce, Apple loses world’s biggest phone seller title
Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global electric vehicle workforce. In a memo, first reported by news website Electrek, billionaire owner Elon Musk told staff there was nothing he hated more, “but it must be done”. The world’s largest auto-maker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December, according to its latest annual report. Tesla did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment. “We have done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally,” said the email from Mr Musk. BBC
Virtual reality headsets will not be used in schools under a new Meta scheme unless teachers can monitor what pupils are doing, Sir Nick Clegg has said amid growing concerns about child safety in the metaverse. Mr Clegg said: “This is not going to be used in the classroom unless teachers feel they have complete visibility and control of what’s going on. “And crucially, that parents, particularly of the younger kids, feel that too, otherwise, why would you use this in an educational setting?” Sky News
Apple has lost its spot as the world’s biggest mobile phone seller after a steep sales drop as South Korean rival Samsung retook the lead in the global market share. Samsung had been the biggest seller of mobile phones for 12 years until the end of 2023, when sales of Apple’s iPhone models overtook it. Global smartphone shipments increased by 8% to 289.4m units during January-March, according to research firm IDC. Samsung won a 20.8% market share, beating Apple’s 17.3% share, which has been dented by slowing sales in China. The Guardian
Adobe is working on a generative AI video model for its Firefly family that will bring new tools to its Premiere Pro video editing platform. These new Firefly tools — alongside some proposed third-party integrations with Runway, Pika Labs, and OpenAI’s Sora models — will allow Premiere Pro users to generate video and add or remove objects using text prompts (just like Photoshop’s Generative Fill feature) and extend the length of video clips. The Verge
While Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates remains optimistic about the social benefits of artificial intelligence, now even the billionaire mogul fears that AI could take his job. The candid quip came during a recent podcast conversation with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company is responsible for the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT. Over the years, Gates has maintained that the three best career paths for recent graduates are those in alternative energy, health biosciences, and advancing artificial intelligence itself — but notably ‘billionaire philanthropist’ is not on that list. Daily Mail
As part of Milan design week, IKEA has launched a collection of gaming furniture designed to subvert the genre’s stereotypical “cyberpunk-y” look. The Brännboll collection includes 20 pieces of seating, storage and various accessories designed to make at-home gameplay more immersive while blending into the home when not in use.
Among them is a spill-proof coaster, IKEA‘s first successful attempt at inflatable furniture and a modern version of a rocking chair that moves with the player. The collection was based on the insight that the number of gamers worldwide reached 3.3 billion in 2023, which according to IKEA makes it “the world’s largest hobby”. Dezeen
