BUSINESS

AI over humans: another company cuts hundreds of jobs

There’s a lot of talk about AI replacing workers, but what happens when a company chooses to invest in AI instead of its human employees? Unfortunately, hundreds of people working at Fiverr are experiencing this firsthand.

Fiverr, the global freelance service marketplace, is transitioning to an AI-first company, reducing its workforce by 30% as it takes a new approach to business.

Founder and CEO Micha Kaufman said in a LinkedIn post, that after reaping the benefits of what small, productive AI teams can deliver, the company now going to embrace an AI mentality, announcing a “painful reset” to turn Fiverr into an AI-first company that's “leaner, faster, with a modern AI-focused tech infrastructure, a smaller team, each with substantially greater productivity and far fewer management layers.”

Calling it possibly one of the toughest decisions he’s ever made, that reset includes the layoff of 250 employees across several departments to create a small and flatter organization with an AI-focused infrastructure and methodology to stay competitive and aggressively pursue larger opportunities. 

Fiverr is just one in the latest spat of companies taking a chance on AI over human workers.

TikTok has been no stranger to slashing staff in favor of AI. In August, hundreds of U.K. content moderators were put at risk when the social media giant announced it was moving to AI for its moderation. TikTok announced plans to dismantle its Berlin moderation team as well.

There’s no doubt that workers in some industries are paying a competitive price when it comes to their AI counterparts. From productivity gains to cost-cutting, more and more companies are taking a chance on implementing AI to stay competitive, even if it means reducing their workforce.

In July, Microsoft announced it would be laying off nearly 9,000 employees as the company looked to shrink its workforce by 4%. That followed a May layoff of 6,000, all following the company’s massive investment in AI. 

While layoffs grab headlines, research suggests that AI doesn’t have to come at the expense of human workers.

PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer report found that AI is making workers more valuable and productive, while enabling them to command higher wages. The report recommends businesses put AI front and center, using it to drive growth and transform their organizations, not just focus on efficiency gains. It also suggests companies prioritize agentic AI and invest in training employees to use AI effectively.

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INVESTMENTS

Microsoft invests $30B in AI infrastructure, operations in the UK

Microsoft is investing $30 billion in AI infrastructure and operations across the U.K. over the next four years.

Microsoft made the announcement Tuesday afternoon that it is doubling down on its investment in the U.K. to build on the foundation the company has already laid there. The news comes just as President Trump and the first lady head to the U.K. for their second state visit. 

The investment marks Microsoft’s most significant financial commitment ever made in the U.K. and includes $15 billion to build out cloud and AI infrastructure and help the company build the U.K.’s “largest supercomputer, which will house more than 23,000 Nvidia GPUs – in partnership with Nscale.”

Microsoft said the investment will not only help meet customer demand but also strengthen economic ties across both sides of the Atlantic. 

“These investments are part of a broader transatlantic effort building connective digital infrastructure that’s bringing our two nations even closer together,” Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said in the announcement.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Microsoft’s investment a “powerful vote of confidence in the U.K.’s leadership in AI and cutting-edge technology.” 

“This commitment will not only strengthen our digital infrastructure and support thousands of highly skilled jobs, but also ensure Britain remains at the forefront of global innovation as we deliver on our Plan for Change,” Starmer said. “We are proud to partner with world-leading companies like Microsoft to build a future powered by British ingenuity and ambition.”

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, also announced a $6.8 billion investment in AI in the U.K. on Tuesday. 

In a BBC News interview, Google President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said the company will open a $1 billion data center in Hertfordshire and provide funding for DeepMind’s London operations.

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ROBOTICS

Humanoid robot developer backed by Nvidia, Amazon secures $120 Million

Humanoid robot developer Dyna Robotics has secured $120 million in new funding, with some major players behind it. 

Dyna is working to bring embodied artificial general intelligence into the real world by creating scalable, high-performance intelligent robots at scale.

Founded in 2024, the company’s robotics foundation model can adapt across environments and learn new skills in a matter of hours. They are also easy to set up and scale as they come with “out-of-the-box intelligence.”

The $120 million funding round drew support from major players including Nvidia Ventures, Amazon Innovation Fund, Salesforce Ventures, Samsung Next and LG Technology Ventures. Robostrategy, CRV and First Round Capital leading the investment

Building the AI power behind humanoids isn’t new for Dyan’s co-founder and CEO Lindon Gao. It's his second time building an AI powered hardware company. In 2016, he co-founded Caper AI, a startup that developed AI-powered smart shopping carts and checkout systems, which was sold to Instacart in 2021.

“This is my second time building an AI-powered hardware company, and I'll admit it sounds a little crazy to do it again (and I did say that Caper would be my last hardware company),” Gao said in a post on Dyan’s website. “After all, what could be tougher than mixing the headaches of hardware scalability with the research intensity of frontier foundation models?”

Gao said he’s never felt more energized because the convergence of technological and economic shifts has made for a unique opportunity. 

“The convergence of AI breakthroughs, accelerating hardware progress, and the urgency of real-world labor challenges has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he said. “Unlocking physical agents is the last frontier to creating unlimited abundance for humanity.

LINKS

• Google fires hundreds of AI workers following disputes

• Luigi Mangione supporter claims she's “married” to his “AI” 

• Parents of children who died by suicide press Congress to act on AI chatbots

• CodeRabbit raises $60 million, valuing company at $550 million

• Jack Altman raises $275 million for venture-capital fund at Alt Capital

• AT&T tests new AI digital receptionist

• Pentagon CTO wants to put AI on every desktop

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• Dell Pro Max GB10: AI developer PC with NVIDIA stack, Blackwell chip, and 1 petaflop of FP4 compute*

• 1X Technologies: Research Engineer, Robot Character

• Microsoft: Principal Researcher, Generative AI, Microsoft Research AI Frontiers 

• Meta: AI Research Scientist, Language, MRS AI 

• Netflix: Machine Learning Scientist (L5), Content and Studio

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