Google has been accused of throwing a “tantrum” after sacking more than 50 workers in response to a protest over the company’s military ties to the Israeli government – firings that have shone a light on a controversial project and long-simmering tensions between staff and management.The workers were sacked following protests at Google offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, organized by No Tech for Apartheid – an alliance of Google and Amazon workers who have been protesting against a $1.2bn co ...

US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 13 fatal crashes in which the feature had been involved. The investigation also found the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed on Friday that during its three-year Autopilot safety investigation, which it launched in August 2021, it identified at least 13 Tesla crashes involving one or more death, and many mo ...

Google’s parent company has hit a stock market value of $2tn (£1.6tn) as investors reacted to a declaration of its first ever dividend alongside strong results on Thursday.Shares in Alphabet rose 10% in early Wall Street trading on Friday to give the tech group a stock market capitalisation – a measure of a corporation’s value – of more than $2tn. Alphabet last hit that level in intraday trading in 2021, but has yet to close above that benchmark after a day’s trading.Alphabet’s shares rose after it posted r ...

Profits at Microsoft beat Wall Street’s expectations as its heavy bets on artificial intelligence and gaming continued to bear fruit in the second quarter.The technology giant has invested billions of dollars into AI in a bid to turbocharge its growth.“Microsoft Copilot and Copilot stack are orchestrating a new era of AI transformation, driving better business outcomes across every role and industry,” said Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft. The company highlighted that Microsoft’s cloud comput ...

Meta’s drive to integrate artificial intelligence into its products yielded strong financial results for the second quarter in a row. But its share price slumped 10% as the company reported earnings Wednesday due to a weak sales forecast rattling investors.Revenue at the world’s largest social media business increased to $36.46bn during the first quarter in contrast to analyst expectations of $36.16bn. Earnings per share rose to $4.71, surpassing expectations on Wall Street of $4.32.The number that spooked ...

US supreme court justices on Tuesday appeared to agree with Starbucks in the coffee chain’s challenge to a judicial order requiring it to rehire seven employees at a Tennessee cafe who were fired as they pursued efforts to unionize.The justices heard arguments in the company’s appeal of a lower court’s approval of an injunction sought by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordering the reinstatement of the workers. It is a case that could make it harder to bring a quick halt to labor practices challen ...

Elon Musk has postponed a trip to India, including a planned meeting with the prime minister, Narendra Modi, after citing “very heavy obligations” at Tesla.The Tesla chief executive was due to visit on 21 April and 22 April, where he was expected to announce an investment of $2-3bn in the country, according to Reuters, with the spending plans focused on building a new plant in India.Musk said in a post on X that he had to push back the visit due to pressures at the electric car maker, which reports quarterl ...

Tesla slashed prices off three of its five models in the US late on Friday, then went on to cut prices around the globe – including in China and Germany – as the company faces falling sales, a Cybertruck recall, and an intensifying war for electric vehicles (EVs).On Friday, the company, led by the billionaire Elon Musk, cut the prices of the Model Y, a small SUV that is Tesla’s most popular model and the top-selling electric vehicle in the US, and also of the Models X and S, its older and more expensive mod ...

Tesla recalled all Cybertrucks Friday after federal safety regulators contacted the company over malfunctions with the vehicle’s accelerator pedal. New Cybertruck orders have been reportedly cancelled or stalled. The news follows numerous reports of embarrassing Cybertruck failures.The recall represents a major blow to Tesla, which has weathered a difficult year, seeing poor earnings reports in recent quarters as competing Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers encroach on the electric vehicle market.“This ...

Meta Platforms on Thursday released early versions of its latest large language model, Llama 3, and an image generator that updates pictures in real time while users type prompts, as it races to catch up to generative AI market leader OpenAI.The models will be integrated into virtual assistant Meta AI, which the company is pitching as the most sophisticated of its free-to-use peers. The assistant will be given more prominent billing within Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger apps as well as a ...