(VOR News) – It has been stated by Qualcomm that commencing on November 12th, the company intends to terminate the employment of 226 employees who are currently working at its San Diego campus.

The decision to terminate employment is going to be made at the appointed time.

Currently, Qualcomm employs the individuals in question as employees.

There are sixteen different locations across the state of California where employees are employed, and one of those locations is the headquarters of the corporation. This choice will have an impact on those individuals. This decision was taken in accordance with a WARN notification that was sent across the entirety of the state of California.

Over the course of the previous year, Qualcomm made the decision to significantly cut the number of staff it employed by more than 1,250.

Layoffs have been carried out as a direct consequence of these decisions, which have led to the implementation of these particular decisions.

The corporation Qualcomm claimed that it had achieved a great financial performance in the year 2023, with annual sales totalling USD 35.8 billion, despite the adjustments that were made.

This was despite the fact that the company had made modifications. It is a really terrible condition that the company was unable to achieve this amount of money. While this was going on, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Cristiano Amon, was paid a total of 23.5 million United States dollars.

This caused concerns to arise regarding the necessity of future layoffs, despite the fact that the company’s financial results were satisfactory. The sum of money that he received was received during the same time period as the previous one.

It is not apparent which departments will be affected by the decision on the most recent round of layoffs that have been carried out because Qualcomm has not disclosed which departments will be affected by the decision.

As part of the organization’s usual course of business, Kristin Stiles, who serves as the spokesperson for the organisation, stated, “We prioritise and align our investments, resources, and talent to ensure that we are optimally positioned to take advantage of the unprecedented diversification opportunities that are in front of us.”

There are persistent challenges that the technology industry must contend with, such as the volatility of the market and the level of competition that is present.

These challenges continue to exacerbate Qualcomm’s issues.

The aforementioned challenges are currently being experienced at this exact moment. Due to the fact that these difficulties are currently being addressed, the industry is currently engaged in the process of addressing them.

Qualcomm is rapidly expanding its product portfolio to include more than just smartphone processors in order to concentrate on sectors that have potential for growth. These areas include the automotive industry and technologies related to the Internet of Things (IoT).

One of Qualcomm’s primary goals is to focus on these areas.

The company’s objective is to focus on opportunities for growth in these industries, and this is a component of the effort that is being made to achieve that primary objective.

For the goal of capitalising on prospects for growth, which is the cause for its continuous existence, this expansion is being carried out with the intention of expanding the business.

As a result of the layoffs, it is predicted that the operations that are carried out at the headquarters of Qualcomm University that are connected to cybersecurity will be one of the facilities and specialisations that will be affected.

In the event that layoffs occur, it is predicted that they will have an effect on a wide range of facilities and areas of expertise.

In the process of navigating these changes, the future strategy of the company will surely play a significant role. This is something that cannot be denied. Because the company will be accountable for ensuring that the requirements of the market are met while also assuring the stability of its employees, this is the reason why this is the case.

SOURCE: BW

SEE ALSO:

Google is Appealing €1.5 Billion in EU Competition Penalties.

Intel’s Stock Soars on Amazon AI Chips, Transforming the Foundry into a Subsidiary.

Apple is expanding the number of people who can test a software upgrade that will integrate artificial intelligence into its virtual assistant Siri and automate a range of tiresome activities on the next iPhone, which will be released on Friday.

The free update was made available on Thursday to a group of people who have signed up to test Apple’s software before it is given to all iPhone owners next month. As of Thursday, just two luxury iPhones released last year had the souped-up processor required to run the AI features included in the upgrade, but that will change on Friday when four new iPhone 16 models hit store shelves.

All iPhone 16 versions, which start from $800 to $1,200, are prepared to handle the new technology, which the firm refers to as “Apple Intelligence.” That branding is part of an effort to distinguish the iPhone’s AI from comparable technology found in handsets released earlier this year by Samsung and Google.

Apple Begins Testing AI Software Designed To Bring A Smarter Siri To The IPhone 16

The AI features are being pushed as one of the key reasons to buy an iPhone 16, thus releasing a test version of the software powering the technology now may cause more buyers to splurge on one of the new models as soon as possible.

For the time being, the AI technology is only available in the United States, but it will be available in localized English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom in December. Apple intends to expand into additional languages and regions next year. The AI software testing began just a few days after Apple issued its latest mobile operating system, iOS 18, to all of its previous iPhones.

After installing iOS 18.1, Siri is expected to become more conversational, adaptable, and colorful, with a brilliant light rotating around the iPhone’s screen as it responds to requests. While Apple promises Siri will be able to accomplish more jobs and get less confused, it will be unable to engage with other iPhone apps until another software update is released at an indeterminate date.

Other AI features included in the software update will handle a variety of writing and proofreading chores, as well as summarising email and document content. The AI will also have a variety of editing options for changing the appearance of photos and making it easier to find old ones.

However, the initial upgrade excludes other AI tricks that will be included later, such as the capacity to generate customized emojis on the fly or conjure other creative visuals upon request. Apple also intends to someday enable its AI suite to seek assistance from OpenAI’s ChatGPT as needed.

Aside from the new iPhone model, Apple’s AI features will also operate on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which have the necessary computer processor. The update will also include the ability to record spatial video on the two iPhone 15 models that can be viewed with Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset.

Apple Begins Testing AI Software Designed To Bring A Smarter Siri To The IPhone 16

However, the AI will not work on hundreds of millions of other iPhones that are still in use, which analysts believe will boost Apple’s previously declining sales of the ubiquitous smartphone.

That assumption is the primary reason why Apple’s stock price has risen by more than 15% since the company unveiled its AI strategy in June, generating $500 billion in shareholder value. Some analysts anticipate that the demand for new iPhones will boost Apple’s market capitalisation past $4 trillion for the first time in the coming year.

SOURCE | AP

(VOR News) – In its appeal against a €1.5 billion competition punishment ordered by the European Commission, Google has had success.

The Big Tech group won this one. Brussels’ regulatory authorities are intensifying their probe of the company simultaneously as this comes to light.

Although it agreed with “most of the commission’s assessments” that the company had used its dominant position to exclude competitor online advertisers, the General Court of the European Union (EU) announced on Wednesday that it had reversed the significant fine that had been imposed against Google in the previous case.

The corporation had been charged with excluding rivals from online advertising by exploiting its strong position.

The competition chief for the bloc, Margrethe Vestager, said that starting in 2006 and running until 2016, the search behemoth had imposed anti-competitive limitations on third-party websites for ten years.

This was said in reference to the 2019 start of litigation against Google.

The €1.5 billion fine she defended by saying it was reasonable would reflect the “serious and sustained nature” of the infraction. She also said the fine was reasonable.

The commission—the executive part of the European Union—had failed, according to the General Court, which is based in Luxembourg, “to take into account all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contractual clauses that it had found to be unfair.” This was the General Court’s conclusion.

Following the ruling, the commission released a statement saying it “took note” of the outcome and that it “will carefully study the verdict and reflect on possible next steps.” Given the outcome, it is expected the commission will launch an appeal.

Google has asserted that this issue is related to a very specific subset of text-only search ads put on a limited number of websites controlled by publishers. We changed our contracts in 2016 to cut out sections pertinent to the issue. These changes were done even prior to the commission’s conclusion announcement.

We are relieved that the court decided to reverse the fine as it acknowledged that the previous decision included mistakes. The whole decision will be closely studied with great thoroughness.

Over the past few years, the European Union has launched three distinct actions against Google, resulting in fines of around 8.25 billion euros across all.

Google got these laws from the EU.

Antitrust action has been accused of being too slow and ineffectual; some have claimed that the massive technological business has already taken over the online advertising sector.

The European Commission (EC) suffered a major blow on Wednesday following the ruling of the European Court of Justice, which said that the search engine had abused its market power by ranking its shopping services higher than those of its rivals.

In another case, the commission had before triumphed over Google. This follows the accomplishment of the commission already. At that time, Google was fined twenty-24 billion euros, which the highest court in the European Union affirmed.

About Google’s dominant position in the advertising technology sector, Brussels has not yet decided about the lawsuit the company has been targeted with. Brussels had threatened to split the company at the end of the previous year, as the only practical way to allay worries about competition.

Those who directly know the current state of affairs claim that the European Union is still debating whether or not to act on the threat and apply more fines to Google. These people know personally the continuous problem.

Vestager has charged technology businesses with not adhering to European Union standards developed here. She is preparing to leave her role as antitrust enforcer in the next weeks, hence this claim comes as natural.

Not one, not two, not three, but I am working on my fourth Google lawsuit right now in a recent Financial Times interview. “I have not dealt with any of these cases using Google.” The fact that successful market players still believe they shouldn’t compete according to their qualities is an intriguing phenomenon that makes one reflect.

SOURCE: FT

SEE ALSO:

Instagram Makes Teen Accounts Private As Pressure Mounts On The App To Protect Children

Facebook Owner Meta Bans Russia State Media Outlets Over ‘Foreign Interference’