Layoffs hit Spotify, Google launches its Gemini AI tool — oh, and an unexpected Cameo star
Marketplace Tech
Marketplace
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2023
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s Tech Bytes: Google launches its AI tool Gemini into the public arena — finally. Plus, ousted congressman George Santos becomes a star on Cameo. But first, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said the music streaming giant is cutting 17% of its workforce. Here’s the thing, though: The size of Spotify’s user base is actually growing right now. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali is joined by Anita Ramaswamy, columnist at Reuters Breakingviews, for her take on these stories.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Benjamin from Milbray, California. Marketplace gives great down-to-earth coverage of the markets and economy for both expert and namas alike. |
| 0:10.0 | I'm proud to have been a listener since I was an undergraduate student many years ago and a supporter for the past few years. |
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| 0:20.0 | Donate. slash donate. Big tech scales back hiring. |
| 0:27.0 | Mass layoffs are just a part of the story. |
| 0:34.3 | From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech. |
| 0:37.3 | I'm Lily Dramale. It is Friday, which means it's time for our week and review, Marketplace TechBites. |
| 0:53.0 | On the show today, Google launches its new AI tool, |
| 0:56.2 | Gemini to the public, finally. |
| 0:59.2 | We'll look at whether its chatbot Bard |
| 1:01.4 | still has a shot at catching up with open AI's chat gp t. |
| 1:05.5 | Plus ousted congressman George Santos becomes a star on cameo. |
| 1:10.6 | Just how did the internet rehabilitate the one-time New York rep's public image practically overnight? |
| 1:17.0 | But first this week, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the music streaming giant is cutting 17% of its workforce. |
| 1:25.7 | Those cuts to 1500 positions make up the third round of layoffs at the company this year. Here's the thing though. The size of Spotify's |
| 1:34.8 | user base is actually growing right now. For more on this I spoke with Anita |
| 1:39.4 | Ramaswami. She's a columnist at Reuters Breaking Views. |
| 1:43.0 | Spotify has done well, especially in its last quarter, |
| 1:47.0 | but the thing is that the market has responded really well to previous layoffs. |
| 1:51.0 | If you look at Spotify shares, they've actually more than tripled since the |
| 1:54.3 | CEO started cutting costs. And so part of the reason why he said he did this, at least two employees, |
| 2:00.5 | is that he wants to be on a more sustainable path for growth in the future. |
... |
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