Comment on People on the move 09/20

About 50 employees were fired for protesting Google’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. Experts say there are few protections in the workplace for political protest. In the span of a week, Google has reportedly fired about 50 employees over protests of its cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.

Safety concerns for the 31-year-old principal and his family prompted police security at his home. A high school athletic director in Maryland has been accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments, authorities said Thursday. Authorities said the case appears to be among the first of its kind in the country and called for new laws to guard against the technology.

After a weak start to earnings season from Netflix and Meta, tech companies saw their fortunes reverse to close out the week on a high note. Until late yesterday, major tech stocks were having a pretty rough few weeks. But thanks to premarket surges this morning from Google, Microsoft, and Snap, the final week of April could be a very good one for select tech giants.

Betting websites offer an easier way to bet against Trump: make a wager on the 2024 election. Rooting for Donald Trump to fail has rarely been this profitable. Just ask a hardy band of mostly amateur Wall Street investors who have collectively made tens of millions of dollars over the past month by betting that the stock price of his social media business—Truth Social—will keep dropping despite massive buying by Trump loyalists and wild swings that often mirror the candidate’s latest polls, court trials and outbursts on Trump Social itself.

Millions of lower-paid salaried workers who previously did not qualify for overtime will be eligible beginning this summer. Getting a salaried job is great until you realize your bosses may now believe they own your soul and don’t need to pay overtime for it. You are always on the clock in their minds.

The intended and unintended generative AI flooding Facebook and Instagram. Meta has flooded its social media platforms with artificial intelligence. Soon enough, Meta AI will be everywhere: In your Facebook news feed, Instagram search bar, and even your conversations with friends on Messenger. The company’s Llama 3 large language model is also perhaps the most powerful open-source model on the market (though its openness is an ongoing debate).