Meta has about 8,000 people or workforce, as it pours more cash into AI than ever before and provides the very high salaries needed to attract AI capabilities. %He's laying off his 10’.
The company confirmed the cuts on Thursday, describing them as an efficiency move to free up investment in priority areas of the business. Bloomberg, who first reported the news, also said Meta’ plans to fill about 6,000 vacancies.
Meta has already said that its costs will increase significantly next year, reaching somewhere between $162 billion (143 billion euros) and $169 billion (150 billion euros), driven by the increasingly eye-catching salary packages it offers investors, infrastructure spending and artificial intelligence experts.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives was optimistic about the disruptions in the note he sent to investors, and ’ argued that Meta“ once used artificial intelligence tools to automate tasks that required large teams, allow the company to streamline operations and reduce costs while maintaining productivity, and increase the need for a leaner operating structure.
Also on Thursday, Microsoft said it had offered to buy volunteers to thousands of U.S. employees.
According to two people familiar with the plan who are not authorized to speak publicly, the software giant announced its proposals at the beginning of May to approximately 8,750 employees, roughly the size of the U.S. workforce. %7’sine plans to expand.
Unlike the rough tool used by Meta and Oracle in the form of mass layoffs, Microsoft’'s approach gives staff the option to leave on their own terms.
But the savings are probably due to the same basic pressure, namely the enormous cost of building artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Microsoft has spent billions of dollars managing an ever-expanding network of global data centers that support cloud computing, AI systems, and its own productivity tools, including AI assistant Copilot.
According to CNBC’, which included a note from Microsoft’'s chief human officer Amy Coleman’ in its reports, the company said it wanted to give eligible employees the option to take the next step on their own terms, with “cömert company support.
There is a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence globally right now. On Friday, December 8, member states and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first attempt to regulate rapidly evolving technology in a comprehensive, ethically-based way.
AB’'s move to legalize artificial intelligence technology came at a time of rapid change in the workplace. According to a recent report, the companies surveyed ’i said they plan to adopt AI-powered systems by 2027.
How AI-powered technology is revolutionizing jobs in the Netherlands’
Dutch supermarket Picnic is trying to revolutionize the online grocery industry. Highly automated centers such as the Picnic’s in Utrecht’ are full of artificial intelligence technologies.
The firm says this allows it to offer food fresher, faster and cheaper, giving it a clear advantage in a highly competitive industry.
In addition, Picnic says, the adoption of artificial intelligence has created a large number of skilled new jobs, for example in areas such as data analytics, while also eliminating much of the hard work done by employees in distribution and order fulfillment centers.
Daniel Gebler, chief technical officer at Picnic’, said: "Artificial intelligence is creating an opportunity for many people to have new jobs that are not currently available and that they can do in the future. “This is about creative work, but at the same time technology replaces repetitive work and hard work.”
Daniel Gebler, technical officer, picnic
Picnic says the technology and business model make it more sustainable. The supermarket already offers free delivery on all-electric vehicles. However, data-driven analyses to reduce food and packaging waste are also central to their operations.
A service like “Picnic can work very sustainably, but this takes us one step further in making our service, operations and also suppliers sustainable, not only with good forecasts, added Daniel Gebler, ”.
‘ They follow everything.‘: The rise of artificial intelligence and job insecurity
Artificial intelligence, when used well, can potentially bring great benefits. So what happens when technology invades our every moment?
Joseph Skull is a bicycle courier at the leading on-demand delivery service in Amsterdam’. He says he's tired of being constantly followed by the company during shifts.
Real Economy’ye “They track everything we do while we're at work, ” said. “They can see if we're standing in a place for five minutes and ask questions about why you're taking so long when you have to do the things you need to do while you're at work.”
Joseph Skull, Delivery Courier on Demand
Dutch unions agree, saying more needs to be done to get delivery companies under control, especially with the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to increase productivity.
Frank Van Bennekom, FNV Young & United Union Official, said “, the workers' union, sees many problems.
“Fees are low. There's no security, and there's no security. For example, in some cases, bonuses are received if the driver does not deliver at a certain time. This leads to really unsafe situations. And I think it should be made illegal by law. - ”
FNV Young & United Union Official Frank Van Bennekom speaks with Euronews’ten Paul Hackett
One of the concerns is that artificial intelligence will lead to more precarious work, not less, in the so-called flexible economy, and reduce the quality of work by using artificial intelligence-powered algorithmic management tools.
Joseph Skull, “I want to feel like I can go to the toilet, eat some food, change my clothes when my clothes get wet because of the terrible weather we sometimes experience. And I want to feel like I won't be punished for it, ” said.
How will the EU protect workers' rights when it comes to artificial intelligence?
Experts and policymakers met this year at the EU Social Forum ’ in Brussels, ’, to discuss, among other pressing issues, how to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence while ensuring justice, participation and safety in the workplace.
European Commissioner for Labour and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit euronews’e said: The important thing is that we do not prevent this technological change, but we make sure that we determine the measures we need to protect workers.“
The first important directive we work on is the protection of platform employees as they are directly affected by algorithmic management. On the one hand, we are putting a lot of pressure on the adoption of this directive, which guarantees protection for workers in the context of algorithmic management, but also guarantees protection for social rights, social protection rights, health, etc. ”
Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Labour and Social Rights
In addition to the platform directive, the EU is also completing the Artificial Intelligence Act, which aims to create the world's first rulebook for such technologies.
Those working on better global regulation say good governance of artificial intelligence is urgently needed.
Virginia Dignum, a member of the UN Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board in “, said that what we are seeing now is that artificial intelligence is very similar to a car used by someone without a driver's license, without brakes and without a seat belt.
“If we leave things as they are, I'm afraid these benefits will be for those who already benefit from artificial intelligence, namely big technology and the multimillionaires of this world.
Virginia Dignum, Member of the UN Advisory Board on Artificial Intelligence
Beate Andrees, Regional Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) ’ (Europe and Central Asia), said: "We think it's important to put people in command. This means incorporating workers into business life, setting regulations, collective bargaining, and discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace.”
‘Lifelong learning mindset’: EuropeRe-skill and increase skills in ’'s workforce
Another important issue was the training and development of digital skills. In the future, 90 percent of jobs will need them. Currently, more than a third of AB’'s workforce lacks what is needed.
Christopher Pissarides, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the London School of Economics ’, says workers should try to adapt.
Christopher Pissarides, Regius Professor of Economics, London School of Economics
Euronews’e said that they should try to find out what is going on at “Companies. They also need to learn how to train themselves according to the direction of the new technology, how to work with it, and they will feel much more satisfied, ” said.
Nicolas Schmit, “, said that we need to create a true lifelong learning mindset that knows that people need to be retrained, reskilled, their skills need to be increased, not only at the risk of losing their job, but also with the guarantee of finding another job.
Schmitt added that “Tekno is not pessimistic, and came to the following conclusion: Thanks to “ Technology, we can have a better world. We can have a better business organization by taking repetitive or boring jobs away from people. But that means we need to keep control. It's not about predicting the future or fearing the future. Ultimately shaping the future. That's what we have to do. - ”
Visa announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with a group of leading AI chatbot developers to connect their systems to Visa’'s payment network.
The goal is to get AI bots to do personal budgeting work. Users will be able to set preferences and spending limits, after which AI representatives will search for products and complete their purchases.
Partner companies include US firms Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI and Perplexity, and French Mistral. Visa is also working on the initiative with IBM, online payment company Stripe and phone maker Samsung.
Pilot projects began on Wednesday ahead of the more widespread use expected next year.
The San Francisco payment processing company believes what now appears to be a futuristic concept could soon become a viable alternative to our most mundane shopping tasks.
He spent the last six months working with AI developers to overcome technical barriers, an important step before introducing the product to consumers.
For emerging AI companies, Visa’'s support can also increase their chances of competing with tech giants Amazon and Google, which dominate digital commerce and develop their own AI intermediaries.
Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer at Visa’, said in an interview with “ that we think this could be really important. “ has transformed as much as the advent of e-commerce.”
Limitations of agency AI
The tech industry is already showing what the so-called “ajan” can do with artificial intelligence, but many uses are still available in an experimental form and are not yet publicly available.
Many of these are still redesigned versions of large language models - the prolific artificial intelligence technology behind chatbots that can write emails, summarize documents, or help people code. Because they're trained with huge amounts of data, they can browse the internet and come up with recommendations for things to buy, but they have a harder time going beyond that.
Forestell, “, the first examples of agency-based trading, are starting to do a really good job in the shopping and discovery dimension of the problem, but they are having huge problems with payments, ” said. “You get to a point where agents literally reverse the subject and say ‘OK, go buy’.”
Visa sees itself as having a key role in providing AI representatives with easier and more reliable access to the cash they need for their purchases.
The payment problem is not something that artificial intelligence platforms can solve on their own, Forestell said in “. “That's why we started working with them.”
Category: Digital payments
The new artificial intelligence initiative comes nearly a year after Visa’ announced major changes to how credit and debit cards will function in the U.S. ’; which makes physical cards and 16-digit numbers increasingly insignificant.
Many consumers are already getting used to digital payment systems such as Apple Pay, which turns their phones into credit cards. A similar process for examining someone's digital credentials will empower AI representatives to work on behalf of the customer; Forestell says it needs to reassure buyers, banks and sellers that transactions are legitimate and that Visa’ will resolve disputes.
Forestell said this doesn't mean AI representatives will take over the entire shopping experience, but it could be useful for errands that bore some people (such as groceries, home decor products, and even Christmas lists) or are too complex, such as travel reservations.
Forestell said that in such cases, some people may want a representative of “, who simply provides power and automatically goes and does the work for us.
Forestell said other shopping experiences, such as luxury items, are a form of entertainment, and many customers still want to immerse themselves in choices and comparisons. In this case, he predicts that artificial intelligence agents will still offer help but remain in the background.
Limits of spending
What about credit card debt? According to the New York Federal Reserve, credit card balances of American consumers reached $1.21 trillion (€1.1 trillion) at the end of last year.
Forestell says consumers will offer AI representatives clear spending limits and conditions to reassure them that control is still in human hands. At first, AI representatives are likely to come back to buyers to make sure they don't have problems with a specific air ticket. Over time, these agencies may have more autonomy when it comes to “ spending up to $1,500 on any airline to get me from point A to point B, ” said.
One of the things that attracted some AI developers to the Visa partnership is that, with the customer's permission, an AI representative can leverage a lot of data on past credit card purchases.
Dmitry Shevelenko, chief operating officer of Perplexity’, said “Visa has the ability to allow a user to share their transaction history flows with us.
“When we create a suggestion, let's say ‘Which are the best laptops? — We can what other transactions you make and therefore the preferences that arise.”
Shevelenko explained that the Perplexity’nin chatbot can already book hotels and make other purchases, but it is still in the early stages of artificial intelligence trading.
The San Francisco-based startup, along with ChatGPT producer OpenAI, told the federal court that it would consider buying Google’'s web browser Chrome’ if the U.S. ’ forced the tech giant to break up in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit.
Microsoft and Meta Platforms reported that March quarter earnings exceeded market expectations; He suggested that strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) helped both companies cope with the economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs. Highlights from the two US tech giants include Microsoft’'s Azure cloud business and Meta’'s advertising revenue; Both of these are significantly supported by artificial intelligence developments.
Shares of Microsoft and Meta’ in after-hours transactions, respectively %7 and 7 %Increased by 5.4 to boost U.S. stock futures. Shares of Microsoft’ are set to compensate for all losses this year, while shares of Meta’ have been around since the beginning of the year. %It continues its decline of 3.7’.
Microsoft’'s Azure growth accelerates
Microsoft’'s core cloud business (Azure and other related services) compared to the previous quarter in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 Increased by ’ per year %It grew by 33 ’. Wall Street predicted that annual growth would be 29 percent.
Azure’'s quarterly growth Connected his ’ to artificial intelligence services; In the previous quarter, this %It was 13’. CEO Satya Nadella said: “Cloud and artificial intelligence are key inputs for every business to increase output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth” added: “From artificial intelligence infrastructure and platforms to applications, we innovate across the entire stack to serve our customers.”
Microsoft launched its AI leadership in late 2023’ with tens of billions of dollars invested in OpenAI’, the owner of ChatGPT’. It also integrated AI tools into the Office 365 suite and introduced chatbot-style Copilot assistants. According to Nadella’'s earnings statement, more than 15 million people currently use the GitHub Copilot assistant, a figure that has quadrupled from a year ago.
Amy Hood, Microsoft’'s vice president and chief financial officer, said: "Influenced by the ongoing demand for our differentiated offerings, Microsoft Cloud revenue is increasing on an annual basis. (in fixed currency increase) and a strong quarter of $42.4 billion, ” said.
Total revenue, compared to the previous year increased to 70.1 billion dollars (62 billion euros). Earnings per diluted share (EPS) increments of 3.46 $ (€3.06) and amounted to 3.22 $ It easily exceeded the consensus estimate (€2.85). All major segments (Microsoft 365 commercial and consumer products, LinkedIn and Dynamics products, and cloud services) recorded double-digit growth.
Josh Gilabert, market analyst at eToro Australia, “, said: "This result once again shows that Microsoft’ is not just driving the wave of AI, it's driving it.
But the wide-ranging tariffs imposed by Trump’ in April could still have a delayed impact on Microsoft’'s operations; But most of them are for countries other than China. creased to 10’.
In early April, Microsoft scaled down some of its global data center projects. A company spokesperson at the time, “, said that as demand for artificial intelligence continued to grow and our data center presence continued to expand, the changes we made showed the flexibility of our strategy. Nadella previously announced that Microsoft ’ aims to invest $80 billion (€70.7 billion) in data center infrastructure in the financial year 2025, which ends in June.
The quarterly capital expenditure, including leasing, fell for the first time in two years, to $21.4 billion (€19 billion).
Meta’'s advertising revenue grew solidly under the influence of artificial intelligence
Meta Platforms also announced strong results; Total Income Annually %It increased by 16 to $42.31 billion (37.41 billion euros), exceeding the expected $41.4 billion (36.6 billion euros). Earnings per share %It rose 35 percent to $6.43 (€5.69), well above the $5.28 (€4.67) forecast. Total sales of Meta’ %The advertising revenue, which makes up 98’, exceeded analysts' expectations and amounted to $41.39 billion (€36.6 billion).
CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “We made a strong start to an important year ; Our community continues to grow and our business is performing very well, ” said. “We are making good progress on artificial intelligence glasses and Meta artificial intelligence, which currently has almost a billion activities per month.” Meta AI is the standalone productive AI product developed in competition with the firm's OpenAI’nin ChatGPT’si.
Zuckerberg added during his earnings statement: “Our business is also performing very well and I think we are in a good position to manage macroeconomic uncertainty.”
The company plans to increase spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure; capital expenditures are expected to increase from the previous estimate of $60 billion to $65 billion, ranging from $64 billion (56.6 billion euros) to $72 billion (63.7 billion euros). Meta noted in its earnings report: “This updated view reflects additional data center investments to support our AI efforts, as well as an increase in the expected cost of infrastructure hardware. 2025Most of our capital expenditures in ’ will continue to be diverted to our core business.”
However, the company warned that the European Commission's recent regulatory decision could damage the user experience and affect European revenue from the third quarter onwards.
Nvidia shares seen as a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday as investors continue to move away from AI shares lling more than 9 ⁇ , it experienced the largest single-day decline in its history.
Shares of the company, in addition to extended trading hours %It lost 2 more values and lost about $300 billion (€272 billion) of market capitalization in total. This comes after it was announced that the company had received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of an anti-monopoly investigation.
Concerns about monopoly
According to a Bloomberg report released Tuesday after U.S. markets closed, the U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed Nvidia and other companies to look for evidence of anti-monopoly violations.
DOJ officials believe that the chip maker's dominance in the global AI chip market leaves customers with limited options, making it difficult for them to switch to other market players only if they don't use Nvidia ⁇ 's products.
The investigation shows that the anti-monopoly investigation has taken a step further as part of the U.S. investigation into Microsoft and Nvidia in June.
These tech giants have been the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom since 2023, following Microsoft's launch of its AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT ⁇ in February last year. Nvidia is a leader in the supply of Graphics Processing Units (GPU ⁇ s), which are especially required for hyperscalers that support Large Language Models (LLM) training.
Despite recent declines, Nvidia shares this year %It has gained 146 valuations, making the company one of the top performers among global tech stocks.
However, the company announced disappointing quarterly earnings last week, indicating that Nvidia's explosive growth period, which began in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, could slow. After this announcement, the shares %7 was down.
Tuesday's sales wave shows that investors continue to divest AI stocks in the face of worsening economic signs, reflecting a broader trend in global markets.
Risk avoidance trend prevails in global markets
The market crash led by Nvidia has also been linked to a worsening of concerns about the overall macroeconomic picture.
Risk avoidance dominated global markets on Tuesday; While major European indices closed the day negatively, U.S. indices fell as the month began.
Pan-European Stoxx 600 index %1 down, S&P 500 %2 declined and technology-heavy Nasdaq %It has lost more than 3 cents. There has been a significant decline, especially in semiconductor stocks; Nvidia ⁇ 's collapse spread to global markets and European chip equipment manufacturer ASML %He suffered more than 4 casualties.
U.S. economic data is disappointing.
On Tuesday morning, the U.S. released disappointing economic data revealing its contracting manufacturing activities for the fourth consecutive month in August, rekindling fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.
Amid worldwide turmoil with the Bank of Japan's rate hike and rising economic concerns, Wall Street experienced its worst single-day sale since early August.
Investors are becoming increasingly sensitive to economic indicators after early August sales; The Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to start lowering interest rates this month.
A possible deeper interest rate cut could signal rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. Historically, there has always been an economic recession during the Fed ⁇ in rate reduction cycle.
Most other major central banks have already begun interest rate cuts in the face of slowing economic growth and falling inflation.
The European Central Bank is also expected to make a decision on interest rates this month, and market participants widely expect the bank to make its second 25 basis points interest rate cut this year.
