February 28, 2025

A comprehensive list of 2024 and 2025 tech layoffs | TechCrunch

The tech layoff wave continued through 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, 2024 saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 542 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Large companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Microsoft conducted sizable layoffs in 2024, while smaller-sized startups also experienced cuts, and in some cases, shut down operations altogether. We’re continuing to track the industry’s layoffs into 2025 so you can see the trajectory

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Hardware

Miss Windows Vista? Well, both of you can now recreate the OS in Windows 11 with a new mod

TL;DR: A Windows Vista-inspired theme for Windows 11 has been facilitated via Windhawk, which offers a library of mods that can be used to customize Microsoft’s OS. Be warned: the setup is fiddly, requiring a fair bit of tinkering and messing around, but if you want a modern Vista aesthetic, well, it’s certainly provided here. Miss the heady days of Windows Vista? Well, some people must, as the ancient operating system from Microsoft has been

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Robotics

NAES and Gecko Robotics make $100M deal to modernize U.S. power grid with robots, AI – The Robot Report

Jake Loosararian, co-founder and CEO of Gecko Robotics, and Mark Dobler, president and CEO of NAES. Source: Business Wire As demand for power increases across the U.S., so does the need to modernize production and infrastructure. Gecko Robotics and NAES Corp. yesterday announced a strategic partnership they said would “transform the reliability and operational efficiency of American power production following President Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency on January 20th.” NAES claimed that it

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Video Friday: Good Over All Terrains

4 min read Evan Ackerman is IEEE Spectrum’s robotics editor. EPFL’s shape-changing robot can handle all the terrains. Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion. RoboCup German Open: 12–16 March 2025, NUREMBERG, GERMANY German Robotics Conference: 13–15 March 2025, NUREMBERG, GERMANY European

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Robotics

NSBE to celebrate 50th anniversary with Chicago convention – The Robot Report

NSBE’s mission is to increase the number of black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and help the community. | Source: NSBE The National Society of Black Engineers, or NSBE, will be meeting in Chicago next week for its annual convention. The four-day 50th anniversary celebration will bring together more than 18,000 technical professionals nationwide. The conference will include pre-collegiate people, current college students, and technical professionals. It has programming geared toward each group, including

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Hardware

Mac users, watch out: Copilot could invade your desktop too, if you want, as macOS app is here

TL;DR: Microsoft’s Copilot app is now available to Apple computers via the Mac App Store, requiring macOS 14.0 and Apple M-series silicon. Initially rolling out in the US, Canada, and the UK, it offers features like voice input, dark mode, and advanced reasoning with OpenAI’s o1 model. Microsoft has made the Copilot app available on macOS, so those curious to try out the AI on an Apple computer can now grab it from the Mac

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Hardware

Sinister Spyzie Spyware Exposes Millions Of Android And iPhone Users To Hackers

Are you using or planning to use a phone monitoring and tracking spyware application? If yes, you need to be aware of a new malware in the wild that compromises smartphones through a specific group phone monitoring applications. The latest software listed among the most vulnerable apps is Spyzie. Researchers have equally identified that this malware has compromised other phone monitoring applications such as Spicy and Cocospy. A reliable source has shown that this bug

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Apply to Speak at All Stage 2025 | TechCrunch

Founders, VCs, and startup experts, now’s your chance! Have crucial scaling insights to offer? Share your expertise with 1,200+ founders, investors, and entrepreneurs at TechCrunch All Stage 2025, presented by Fidelity, on July 15 in Boston! We’re assembling the best minds from the startup and VC communities to lead exciting sessions, interactive roundtables, and dynamic breakouts. Step up and share your insights to help founders navigate the complexities of scaling their businesses. Submit to speak

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AI

Mind the GAP: Geometry Aware Passthrough mitigates cybersickness

User study design We introduce a comprehensive protocol focused on key VST use cases to holistically assess visually-induced discomfort and cybersickness in VST HMDs. We then use this to compare our GAP algorithm to DP. To achieve reproducibility, repeatability, and real-life relevance, we began with tasks identified in the literature, tested them in a pilot study, and iteratively refined the task nature and duration based on participant feedback. A total of 25 consenting participants with

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Hardware

Framework Desktop Teardown Sheds Light On Soldered RAM Strategy

When you hear “Framework”, if you’re familiar with the laptop vendor, you probably think of modular components and repairable PCs. Indeed, the company allowed popular repair guide website iFixit early access to the very exciting Framework Desktop, and the machine is as easy as expected to tear down given that it is, of course, a desktop PC. The RAM remains soldered, though, and it seems like that’s simply going to be the case for the

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