Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, cites AI efficiency, two thirds in Xbox
On July 6, 2026, Microsoft announced it would cut 4,800 jobs worldwide, about 2.1% of its total workforce, with roughly 3,200 of those positions concentrated in the Xbox division.
SK Hynix seeks record $28 billion Nasdaq IPO betting on AI memory shortage
South Korea's SK Hynix, the world leader in HBM memory, started marketing its Nasdaq listing under the ticker SKHY on July 6, 2026, seeking to raise up to $28 billion, with shares set to debut on July 10.
Taiwan approves another $20 billion TSMC investment in Arizona
Taiwan's government approved, on July 2, a new $20 billion capital injection from TSMC into its Arizona subsidiary, bringing the company's total cleared US investment to about $44 billion.
OpenAI proposes giving the US government a 5% stake in the company
According to the Financial Times, OpenAI is internally discussing giving the US government roughly a 5% equity stake, worth about $42.6 billion at the company's current valuation.
Meta overhauls WhatsApp Business pricing: token based AI billing, an October fee and pricing in reais
Meta launched its Meta Business Agent on WhatsApp on July 1 as a message category that is free at launch, with token based billing starting August 1, will reinstate service message fees in October and now lets Brazilian business accounts bill in reais.
The two-track labor market AI is creating
Recent reports from PwC, Microsoft and BCG describe a market split between "professionalized" roles, which gain strength through AI, and "democratized" roles, which AI turns into a commodity.
Baseten raises $1.5 billion in Series F round
Baseten, which specializes in AI inference infrastructure, raised $1.5 billion on June 22, valued at up to $13 billion.
Flourish raises $500 million for brain-inspired AI models
The startup, founded by Thomas Reardon (creator of Internet Explorer) and Rob Williams, raised half a billion dollars — including a personal check from Jeff Bezos — to develop AI architectures inspired by human cognitive processes, valued at $2.5 billion.
AlphaSense raises $350 million, valuation rises to $7.5 billion
The AI-powered market research platform nearly doubled its previous $4 billion valuation in the round closed in early June.
Generalist AI raises $400 million for AI-powered robotics
The startup, focused on robots able to perform complex real-world tasks, was valued at $2 billion in the new round.