The world’s largest technology companies are increasingly and explicitly linking workforce reductions to the adoption of artificial intelligence. Firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce point to AI as one of the key drivers behind planned layoffs in 2025, citing rising productivity and the automation of white-collar work.
Autonomous vehicle company Waymo temporarily suspended part of its robotaxi service in San Francisco after a citywide power outage caused multiple self-driving vehicles to stop simultaneously. Notably, the blackout did not disrupt regular traffic — the issue affected almost exclusively the autonomous fleet.
One of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites has partially broken apart in orbit and begun tumbling uncontrollably, gradually losing altitude and entering a deorbiting phase. The incident has drawn the attention of astronomers and space-debris specialists who are tracking the object’s trajectory.
An experiment conducted by The Wall Street Journal as part of its “Project Vend” put artificial intelligence in charge of managing vending machines. The outcome was costly — the AI made irrational decisions, generated financial losses, and exposed the limitations of current autonomous agents in real-world economic and logistical tasks.