Category: Tech

There’s an art to making the most from AI. Here’s how to up your prompt-writing game.

Can Houston-based Intuitive Machines become the first private firm to achieve a soft landing on the moon? We’ll soon find out.

Following a round of layoffs last year, eBay is cutting its workforce again, this time by nearly 10%, equal to about 1,000 employees.

The latest tech giant impacted by the economy is eBay, which announced earlier today that it is reducing its workforce by around 1,000 roles. That apparently equates to roughly 9 percent of the company’s full-time employees. US employees are asked to work from home on January 24, and those affected will be notified “shortly.” Unlike Discord and Riot Games, though, eBay’s post stopped short at sharing severance or benefit details. The company also plans to scale back the number of contractors over the coming months.

eBay’s impact scale matches that of Unity and Google from earlier this month, which doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the tech scene right at the beginning of 2024. Like its peers, eBay blamed this round of layoff on having hired too many people in recent years. “While we are making progress against our strategy, our overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business,” president and CEO Jamie Iannone said in the memo. Hopefully LinkedIn’s new AI-powered categorization tool will come in handy for those in need.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ebay-is-laying-off-9-percent-of-its-workforce-035136287.html?src=rss

In its Q4 2023 earnings report from earlier today, Netflix announced that starting in Q2 2024, its cheapest ad-free “Basic” plan will be completely gone in Canada and the UK. You haven’t been able to sign up for this tier since last July, but now, even current subscribers will no longer be able to keep their ‘Basic’ plan, which was originally $10 or £7 per month but bumped up to $12 or £8 in October. In other words, you’ll basically be forced into one of the two more expensive ad-free packages (from $16.49 or £11 per month) or the cheaper ad-supported plan ($6 or £5 per month).

It’ll be interesting to see which side the current user base will lean towards when they eventually have to make their decision, but it’s clear that Netflix wants to boost its ad business, rather than relying too much on the constant price hikes — as is the case with the entire streaming market, it seems. After all, the ads plan currently accounts for 40 percent of all Netflix sign-ups in its ads markets, according to the earnings report. We wouldn’t be surprised if the same will be applied to the US before long. “We’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there,” Netflix added.

The company is also seeing success in gaming, with user engagement in this area tripled in 2023. The Grand Theft Auto trilogy, which only arrived on the platform on December 14, is credited as Netflix’s “most successful launch to date in terms of installs and engagement… with some consumers clearly signing up simply to play these games.” But the firm added that it’s still early days compared to the scale of Netflix’s core streaming business, with no figures significant enough to share just yet. Who knows, maybe we’ll see another leap with the 2024 gaming lineup.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-killing-its-cheapest-ad-free-plan-in-canada-and-the-uk-in-q2-024458235.html?src=rss