Pinterest fired two engineers for improperly tracking employees who were laid off in a recent round of job cuts, according to a report by Reuters. The social media company's actions came as Amazon announced a significant increase in its spending on artificial intelligence (AI) projects, and the price of Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since October 2024.
Pinterest's decision to dismiss the engineers followed a recent announcement of job cuts, with CEO Bill Ready stating the company was "doubling down on an AI-forward approach," according to an employee who posted the memo on LinkedIn. The company had stated the cuts would impact approximately 15% of its workforce, or roughly 700 roles, without specifying which teams or workers were affected. The engineers, however, wrote custom scripts to access confidential company information to identify the locations and names of dismissed employees.
Meanwhile, Amazon revealed it expects to spend $200 billion this year on building out its business, with a significant portion allocated to AI. This represents a substantial increase from the $125 billion spent last year. Despite the ambitious spending plans, Amazon's shares fell by more than 11% in after-hours trading following the announcement, according to Reuters. The company's investment is part of a broader trend among tech giants, including Meta, Google, and Microsoft, who collectively expect to spend around $650 billion on AI and related projects.
In other financial news, the price of Bitcoin dropped to $66,000, its lowest level since October 2024, according to reports. This decline occurred despite former US President Donald Trump's public support for cryptocurrency. The price is down 24% since the start of the year.
The Bank of England also announced it was keeping interest rates unchanged, but hinted at potential rate cuts in the near future. However, the bank cautioned that mortgage rates were unlikely to return to the lows seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Bank's goal is to bring inflation down to its 2% target.
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