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Sunday, 1 November · updated 12 min ago

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AI News

Hard terms in each story, explained in plain English.

Jobs

Critical Software Lays Off 200 as It Rebuilds Around AI

Critical Software, based in Coimbra, Portugal, is rebuilding itself around artificial intelligence. About 200 people are being laid off as part of the change. The move shows how AI is reshaping work inside software firms, so staff and readers in the tech sector may want to follow how the company's new direction plays out.

Quick glossaryCritical Software
Critical Software
Critical Software is a software company based in Coimbra, Portugal, as described in the story's source link.
ai.pt
Burning Potato score: 76%
Jobs

Microsoft Offers Voluntary Severance to 60,000 Staff

Microsoft is offering voluntary severance packages to about 60,000 employees, roughly a quarter of its workforce. This is the second such programme this year. Its headcount has stayed flat at around 223,000 since 2022, even as it plans to spend about $170 billion on AI infrastructure while protecting teams critical to AI work.

Quick glossaryMicrosoft, voluntary severance, AI infrastructure
Microsoft
An American software giant best known for Windows, the Office apps and its Azure cloud computing service.
voluntary severance
A payment package offered to employees who agree to leave their jobs, rather than being forced out.
AI infrastructure
The physical computers, chips and data centres needed to build and run artificial intelligence systems.
The Decoder
Burning Potato score: 75%
Jobs

Will AI Take Your Job? Why You Have More Control Than You Think

A new Vox article asks whether AI will take your job. Its main message is that workers have more agency than they might think in how AI changes their work. The piece has been shared on Hacker News, where it has drawn little discussion so far.

Quick glossaryVox, agency
Vox
A US news website best known for explainer articles on politics, technology, and culture.
agency
The ability to make your own choices and actively shape what happens to you in your work and life.
vox.com
Burning Potato score: 74%
Privacy

OpenAI Will Train on Some Cyber Session Data Even After Opt-Out

OpenAI says that from November 29 it will use data from Daybreak Blue cybersecurity sessions to train its models, even for users who have turned off training. After public backlash, a follow-up email promised a separate opt-out option. The move revives concerns from an earlier dispute with mathematicians.

Quick glossaryOpenAI, Daybreak Blue, opt-out, training
OpenAI
OpenAI is a San Francisco company behind ChatGPT, best known for its popular AI chatbot and language models.
Daybreak Blue
A name for cybersecurity sessions whose data OpenAI plans to use to teach its AI models in the future.
opt-out
A way for users to refuse something by choosing not to take part in it, such as data use.
training
Teaching an AI system by feeding it large amounts of examples so it learns patterns and gets better at tasks.
The Decoder
Burning Potato score: 74%
Jobs

NatWest to Cut 1,000 More Jobs After AI Drive

UK bank NatWest has announced 1,000 more job cuts. The cuts come after its drive to work more efficiently with AI. For bank staff, this means their roles are at risk, and it shows how AI is reshaping work in big banks.

Quick glossaryNatWest, efficiency drive
NatWest
NatWest is a large British bank, best known for its high street branches and online banking services.
efficiency drive
A push to get more work done from the same staff, time and money, usually by cutting waste.
independent.co.uk
Burning Potato score: 73%
Jobs

Goldman Says AI Layoffs Could Leave a Lasting Scar

Goldman Sachs says AI-linked layoffs could leave a long-lasting scar on workers, comparing it to the effects of past tech changes over the last 40 years. For people who lose jobs, the impact may last far beyond the layoffs themselves, the bank argues.

Quick glossaryGoldman Sachs, Layoffs, Scar
Goldman Sachs
A large US investment bank, best known for banking, trading, and advising companies on deals and large financial transactions.
Layoffs
Layoffs are job cuts, where a company removes staff from its payroll, often to save money or reduce costs during hard times.
Scar
A lasting effect that remains after a hard event, like a setback that keeps hurting someone's career or income for many years.
fortune.com
Burning Potato score: 72%
Tools

How to Use Claude Duet When It Reaches You

Anthropic's Claude Duet is set to roll out to users, but for now people must first join a waitlist. Engadget's short guide explains the basics of using it. Since access starts with a waitlist, the first step is signing up for one and waiting for your turn.

Quick glossaryAnthropic, roll out, waitlist
Anthropic
An AI company based in the US, best known for its Claude chatbot, which people use to write, search and answer questions.
roll out
When a new feature is made available gradually to users over time, rather than all at once for everyone.
waitlist
A list you join to wait your turn, so you get access to a product once there is room for you.
Engadget AI
Burning Potato score: 71%
Privacy

Browser Tool Views Character.AI Data Without Uploading It

A developer has shared a web tool that opens a Character.AI data export right in the browser. Nothing is uploaded, so the personal chat data stays on the user's own device. People who want to see what the chatbot platform has stored about their conversations can check it privately, without sending the file to anyone.

Quick glossaryCharacter.AI, data export
Character.AI
A US company known for letting people chat with AI characters that play roles such as friends, historical figures or fictional people.
data export
A copy of the information a online service holds about your account, which you can download and keep for yourself.
github.com
Burning Potato score: 71%
Research

Nearly Two in Three Teens Now Use AI Chatbots

New research finds that nearly two out of three teens and tweens use AI chatbots. The findings were reported by NPR and show how common these tools have become for young people. They raise questions about how young users are using the tools.

Quick glossarychatbots
chatbots
A computer program you chat with by typing or speaking, which replies like a person.
npr.org
Burning Potato score: 71%
Jobs

Amazon Memo on AI Use Leaves Workers Unsettled

Amazon has sent its staff a memo about how AI should be used at work. Its mixed message has left many workers feeling uneasy about what the company expects from them and what it means for their jobs. The story comes from a tech news report on the memo.

Quick glossaryAmazon, internal memo
Amazon
A US company best known for its online shopping website and its AWS cloud computing services.
internal memo
A short official note that a company sends only to its own employees, not to the public.
theregister.com
Burning Potato score: 70%
Tools

Sovereign Inference Mesh Runs AI on Android Phones

Sovereign Inference Mesh is a new project that runs AI directly on Android phones instead of sending the work to distant servers. It is described as a way to handle AI inference and edge computing on the device itself, which may matter for users who care about where their data goes.

Quick glossarySovereign Inference Mesh, inference, edge compute
Sovereign Inference Mesh
A phone-native AI tool for Android, as the story describes it, with no further background given about its makers.
inference
The process where a trained AI model runs on new input to produce answers, often on a device like a phone.
edge compute
Computing done close to the user's own device rather than in a faraway data centre.
zenodo.org
Burning Potato score: 70%
Funding

Meta Plans $97.5 Billion for AI, Alongside OpenAI Claims

A weekly tech roundup reports that Meta has a $97.5 billion plan to fund its AI work. The same roundup also covers scientific claims made by OpenAI. The headline gives no further details on either item, so the full picture is still unclear.

Quick glossaryMeta, OpenAI
Meta
Meta is the US company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, best known for its social media apps.
OpenAI
OpenAI is the US company best known for ChatGPT, one of the most widely used AI chatbots.
L'Orient Today
Burning Potato score: 68%

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