Techmeme
January 20, 2023, 2:30 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Memo: Alphabet plans to cut ~12,000 jobs, 6%+ of its global workforce; CEO Sundar Pichai says he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here”  —  Google parent Alphabet Inc. said it will cut about 12,000 jobs, more than 6% of its global workforce …
More: The Keyword, Reuters, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Associated Press, TheStreet, HotHardware, SiliconANGLE, Ars Technica, BBC, Game Developer, GamesIndustry.biz, PYMNTS.com, NPR, Insider, GeekWire, NBC News, PCWorld, Seattle Business Journal, TIME, Fortune, Gizchina, Washington Post, Tech.co, Game Rant, iPhone in Canada Blog, CNN, New York Times, USA Today, Wccftech, Tom's Hardware, RCR Wireless News, The Economic Times, CNET, OnMSFT.com, PhoneArena, TechRadar, SlashGear, MobileSyrup, Thurrott, Fast Company, Computerworld, RTÉ, Semafor, PCMag, Moneycontrol, Engadget, Neowin, The Information, TechCircle, DCD, City A.M., Patently Apple, Appuals.com, WinBuzzer, TheGamer, gHacks Technology News, Newser, ZDNet, Coinspeaker, Tech in Asia, NBC Bay Area, Deadline, 9to5Google, Livemint, The Economic Times, BigTechWire, Tech Xplore, Tech Monitor, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Silicon Republic, The Register, Variety, and TechSpot
Kevin Simauchi / Bloomberg:
Crypto lender Genesis Global files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York, listing the estimated range for both assets and liabilities as between $1B and $10B  —  Cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy, the latest firm to collapse in the aftermath of FTX's swift downfall.
Ryan Weeks / The Block:
Bankruptcy filing: Genesis Global owes more than $3.6B to its top 50 creditors, including $766M to the Winklevoss' Gemini Trust Company and $151M to Mirana  —  - Genesis Global filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Nico Grant / New York Times:
Sources: Google executives met with Larry Page and Sergey Brin in December to discuss AI products; Google plans to demo web search with chatbot features in 2023  —  A rival chatbot has shaken Google out of its routine, with the founders who left three years ago re-engaging and more than 20 A.I. projects in the works.
The Verge:
Source: CNET owner Red Ventures has used AI tools like Wordsmith to write stories for at least a year and a half, causing unease amid layoffs and restructuring  —  Fake bylines.  Content farming.  Affiliate fees.  What happens when private equity takes over a storied news site and milks it for clicks?
Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo plans to increase production of its six-year-old Switch console in the coming fiscal year, starting in April 2023, as demand remains strong  —  Nintendo Co. plans to increase production of its six-year-old Switch console in the coming fiscal year after shipping roughly 21 …
Emily Baker-White / Forbes:
According to six employees and an internal doc, TikTok and ByteDance staff engage in “heating”, or inflating video view counts, to court influencers and brands  —  TikTok and ByteDance employees regularly engage in “heating,” a manual push that ensures specific videos …
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Twitter quietly updates its developer agreement with a clause banning third-party clients, after claiming the company was “enforcing long-standing API rules”  —  In case there was any doubt about Twitter's intentions in cutting off the developers of third-party apps …
Catherine Larkin / Bloomberg:
SEC filing: T-Mobile says a hacker stole the data of ~37M customers, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, but not passwords, SSNs, or credit cards  —  T-Mobile US Inc. said a hacker obtained data for 37 million customer accounts, though it didn't include payment card information or personal identifying numbers.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
A survey of 2,300+ game developers: 45% say the metaverse won't deliver on its promise, 53% back unionization, 91% say player harassment is an issue, and more  —  Game developers are more skeptical of metaverse and blockchain projects, according to a new survey by the Game Developers Conference.
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Experts argue that 24+ US states banning TikTok is a reflection of government groupthink and an overreaction to an app that officials don't entirely understand  —  Some states' have copied others' wording, including mistakes, as some professors complain the bans rob them of a teaching tool
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Emma Roth / The Verge:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Give your projects a “signature” upgrade with the Zoho Sign extension for Zoho Projects  —  Well-orchestrated project management keeps people, priorities, and processes all working in sync toward a shared goal.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Is Upending Law. Is That A Sign For The Rest Of Us? — With Melia Russell
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
[trading places]:
Ben Black Akkadian Ventures🏆 | Secondaries Secrets 💎 | RAISE Conf 🎯 | Vercel $9B 🚀
a very bad podcast about broken unicorns & busted carry hosted by dave mcclure and aman verjee
Subscribe to [trading places].
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:30 PM ET, January 20, 2023.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Billboard:
The Block: