IT on The Soothsayer / page 8

Mark Zuckerberg recently shared his thoughts on the 2010 film “The Social Network,” which tells the story of Facebook’s early days. In a YouTube podcast, Zuckerberg expressed his discomfort with the film’s portrayal of his life and motivations. He noted that while the film got some details right, the overall narrative arc was inaccurate. This…

Trevor Milton, the founder of bankrupt hydrogen trucking startup Nikola, has been pardoned by President Trump. Milton was convicted of securities and wire fraud related to claims he made about Nikola’s progress to investors. The pardon comes just weeks after Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it is unclear how this will impact the…

OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has announced its support for Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data resides. This move is expected to enhance the performance and relevance of AI-powered applications, including chatbots. The MCP standard allows developers to build two-way connections…

Fintech giant Block, owned by Jack Dorsey, has laid off 931 employees, roughly 8% of its staff, in a restructuring effort. The company cited shifting strategic needs, performance issues, and a desire to flatten its hierarchy as reasons for the layoffs. Block is also closing 748 open roles, with the exception of critical operational and…

11x, a startup that offers AI-powered sales automation, has been experiencing financial struggles and is facing potential legal action from investors and customers. The company, which was on an explosive growth trajectory last year, has seen many of its early customers cancel their contracts due to issues with the product. 11x has also been accused…

Vertical farming company Plenty has filed for bankruptcy, citing financial difficulties despite raising nearly $1 billion in funding. The company plans to continue operating a strawberry farm in Virginia and a research center in Wyoming, but its future in the industry remains uncertain. This news comes on the heels of several other bankruptcies in the…

Google has conducted an experiment in eight European markets, removing news from search results for 1% of users for 2.5 months. The tech giant claims that the results show news is essentially worthless to its ad business, which could have significant implications for the way it interacts with news publishers in the future. Google hopes…

Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush has warned Elon Musk that his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has created a “brand tornado crisis” for Tesla, leading to a significant drop in the company’s stock price and growing protests worldwide. Ives has called on Musk to reduce his role at DOGE and provide a…