In the first month of 2023, tech giants started announcing major layoffs. This week, Google announced that the company is reducing its workforce by 12,000 roles. Google also said that the roles Google is eliminating are a low priority for the company currently. Also this week, Microsoft once again invested in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and Dall-E 2. Microsoft might be planning about integrating ChatGPT into its services. In other news, Supermicro introduced its X13 server family with 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors.
ChatGPT extension for Linux available now
ChatGPT is now available as an extension for Linux, but it’s still an early version and a work in progress, so it is not very stable. Thanks to Rafal Mioduszewski’s ChatGPT Gnome desktop extension, it is now possible to use ChatGPT from the comfort of your desktop at all times. ChatGPT Gnome desktop extension can be downloaded easily by cloning its repo.
Google reducing workforce by 12,000 roles
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, announced that Google would be reducing its workforce by 12,000 roles, more than 6% of its global workforce, in an e-mail he sent to Google employees. Pichai clarified that Google will pay employees during the full notification period of 60 days, offer a severance package, pay 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time as well as offer 6 months of healthcare, job placement services, and immigration support. Pichai also stated that these roles are now a low priority.
Microsoft continues to invest in OpenAI
Microsoft has announced that it will make a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment to continue its partnership with OpenAI. To speed up OpenAI’s independent AI research, Microsoft announced that it will increase its expenditures on development and deployment regarding artificial intelligence. The company will expand Azure’s top AI infrastructure in order to assist clients in creating and deploying their AI applications. It was speculated that OpenAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT was going to be integrated into Microsoft’s Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and more apps on January 11th.
Supermicro introduces X13 server portfolio with 4th Gen Intel Xeon
Supermicro introduced a new server and storage portfolio with more than 15 families of performance-optimized systems for different needs. The new systems are based on the new 4th Gen Intel Xeon scalable processors, also known as Sapphire Rapids. Supermicro also stated that new servers will support the new Intel Data Center GPU Max Series across a wide range of servers. The Intel Data Center GPU Max Series contains up to 128 Xe-HPC cores and will accelerate a range
of AI, HPC, and visualization workloads.
Tails 5.9 is now available, fixing the graphics problems from 5.8
The developers of Tails, a privacy-focused Linux-based operating system, have announced the release of Tails 5.9 with an apology. The developers apologized for the new graphical issues that came with Tails 5.8. Those issues mostly existed because of the switch to Wayland by default while using Linux kernel 5.10 LTS, which did not end up well. The new version of Tails comes with a couple of package updates for Tor Connection; Tor Browser is updated to version 102.7, and Tor client is updated to version 0.4.7.13.
Buffalo Bills’ new stadium will include a data center
The NFL team, Buffalo Bills is working on a new stadium, which will include 75,000 square meters of on-site auxiliary technology building, including a data center. The proposal of the construction project includes plans for an on-site 75,000 auxiliary technology building. It will include areas for TV broadcasters and a production data center. Currently, details of the data center are not disclosed. The MoU mentions the possibility of a heat-reuse system within the facility, allowing the use of waste heat to be incorporated into the exposed structure above the concourse areas.
Riot Games faces a security breach
Riot Games faces social engineering attack, although no indication that player data or personal information was obtained. The company said that there appears to be no evidence that any sensitive information was obtained during the attack. Riot Games announced the attack it was facing via Twitter, which did not give many details on the situation except the fact that patches would be delayed.