A controversial work rhythm that once defined swaths of China’s tech scene — the so-called “996” schedule (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week) — is showing signs of being repackaged for Silicon Valley, where a renewed rush to dominate artificial-intelligence projects and data-center buildouts is lifting appetite for ever-longer workweeks. Startups and … Read more
When most chief executives talk about margins, market share and product road maps, Maya Alvarez talks about slow waves, circadian timing and the quiet rhythm of a person’s nights. Her office, on the 22nd floor of a converted warehouse, smells faintly of eucalyptus — a deliberate choice, she says, because scent is one of the … Read more
Mountain View / Washington — Google reacted with alarm and swift internal moves after the Trump administration announced a sweeping change to the H-1B visa program this month — a new $100,000 annual fee and a tighter selection process for new hires — even as company leaders sought to reassure employees that existing staff would … Read more
San Francisco — Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI filed a lawsuit this week in a California federal court accusing OpenAI of orchestrating a campaign to poach employees and steal trade secrets — including source code for xAI’s chatbot Grok and sensitive information about data-center operations — to gain a competitive edge in the fast-moving AI … Read more
Amarillo, Texas — A company tied to former U.S. Energy Secretary and Texas governor Rick Perry has unveiled a sweeping plan to build what it calls an “advanced energy and artificial intelligence campus” near Amarillo — a massive complex that would pair multiple large nuclear reactors with huge data-center capacity and, supporters say, answer soaring … Read more
Seattle / Washington — Amazon has agreed to a landmark $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that the company used deceptive signup practices to enroll millions of shoppers in its Prime membership and made cancellations difficult. The settlement, announced Sept. 25, requires Amazon to pay a $1 billion civil … Read more
Washington — The U.S. economy grew faster in the April–June quarter than previously reported, the Commerce Department said Thursday, in a revision that lifts second-quarter real gross domestic product to an annualized 3.8 percent. That is 0.5 percentage point higher than the prior estimate of 3.3 percent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said the upward … Read more
Washington — A bipartisan group of senior economic officials — including the three most recent former Federal Reserve chairs — filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week warning that President Donald Trump’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook could damage the Fed’s independence and risk a surge in inflation. The … Read more
Microsoft has disabled a set of cloud and artificial-intelligence services used by a unit within Israel’s Ministry of Defence after an internal review found elements of reporting that alleged the company’s Azure platform was being used in the mass surveillance of Palestinians. The company’s vice-chair and president, Brad Smith, told staff that Microsoft had “ceased … Read more
Washington — Two senior U.S. senators have asked major American corporations — including Apple, Amazon and several other big tech and finance employers — to explain why they continue to hire large numbers of H-1B visa workers even as the same companies have been cutting jobs at home. The letters, from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck … Read more