Techmeme
January 20, 2023, 7:45 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
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?
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
The US SEC charges Avraham Eisenberg with manipulating Mango Markets' governance token MNGO to steal $116M of crypto assets and says MNGO was sold as a security  —  - The SEC brought charges against Avraham Eisenberg on Friday after the U.S. securities regulator said Eisenberg stole $116 million from Mango Markets.
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 …
Josh Scott / BetaKit:
Waterloo-based Magnet Forensics, which develops digital investigation software, agrees to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for CA$1.8B  —  Announcement comes hours after IIROC halted trading of Magnet's shares.  —  Kitchener-Waterloo's Magnet Forensics has entered into a definitive agreement …
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

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's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up  —  Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.
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

Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
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.
The Social Radars:
Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5!
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:45 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

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Billboard:
The Block:
Catherine Larkin / Bloomberg:
Karissa Bell / Engadget: