Tesla to cut up to 14,000 jobs
Tesla has revealed plans to sack up to 10% of its global workforce, according to a leaked memo sent by CEO Elon Musk to staff.
In the memo, first reported by news website Electrek, Musk said the job cuts would allow Tesla to “be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle”.
“We have done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally,” said the email from Musk. Who added that there is nothing he hates more, “but it must be done.”
Tesla is the world’s largest carmaker by market value and employs around 140,000 staff worldwide.
It comes as Tesla continued efforts to sign off a pay packet for Musk worth $56 billion – one of the largest in corporate history. A judge previously blocked the pay deal, but shareholders are set to hold another vote over the agreement.
Boston Dynamics retires Atlas robot
Boston Dynamics has announced the official retirement of its humanoid Atlas HD robot, but the company said an electric version could be developed in the future.
The hydraulic Atlas — a humanoid robot that can run, jump, and even do backflips — has retired after 11 years of development, the Hyundai-owned firm revealed in a video on its social channels.
Various versions of Atlas went viral over the years, as the company used the humanoid bot to demonstrate its latest tests.
Instead, Boston Dynamics revealed that it plans to focus on developing an all-electric humanoid robot with much more flexibility than its predecessor.
Boston Dynamics says parent company Hyundai’s next generation of automotive manufacturing tech is the “perfect testing ground for new Atlas applications.” It plans to show off what the robot can do over the coming months and years and to first put Atlas through its paces with a small group of partners.
EU gives TikTok 24 hours over money-for-views model
The European Commission has given the social media platform TikTok 24 hours to answer questions about a version of its app that pays viewers to watch videos.
The Chinese-owned company launched TikTok Lite in France and Spain earlier this week, prompting the EC to raise questions about the service. TikTok has said it plans to respond to the regulator.
A slimmed-down version of the standard platform, Lite’s ‘Task & Rewards’ feature pays users the equivalent of a few pence per day for watching videos and engaging on the app.
The European Commission has asked TikTok for details of the risk assessment it carried out before launching the feature.
UK government looks to introduce law banning sexual deepfakes
The government has revealed plans to introduce a law that will criminalise the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes.
Under the legislation, anyone who creates such an image without consent will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine. They could also face jail if the image is shared more widely.
The UK Ministry of Justice announced that creators will also be criminally liable even if they created the deepfake for their own purposes with no intention of sharing it.
The Online Safety Act, introduced last year, has already criminalised the sharing of deepfake intimate images, whose creation is facilitated by advances in artificial intelligence.
It comes as concerns about the impact of deepfakes grows across industries, especially with significant elections looming worldwide. However, as TechInformed reported last year, deepfakes can still offer positive solutions.
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