Sweeping layoffs in tech are leaving thousands of people holding H-1B work visas stranded and scared.
Why it matters: In the event of a layoff, H-1B holders have 60 days to find new companies to sponsor their visas. If they can't, they can try switching to a different kind of work visa or look into non-work visas, such as a self-sponsored green card.
Rackspace Technology, one of the largest cloud and email hosting providers in the U.S., said Tuesday a ransomware attack is to blame for a massive outage that's kept some customers out of their email inboxes since Friday.
Why it matters: The crisis provides a window into the hidden world of email hosting, where clients entrust their deepest electronic secrets to third-party cloud providers for storage and protection.
Officials unsealed indictments against four people accused of hacking U.S. businesses and using stolen personal data to file falsified tax returns with the IRS, federal officials said on Monday.
Driving the news: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida unsealed indictments charging Akinola Taylor, Olayemi Adafin, Olakunle Oyebanjo and Kazeem Olanrewaju Runsewe with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of public money and filing false claims with the U.S. government.
Ransomware gangs were hyper-focused on organizations in the U.S. in the first half of 2022, according to a report released by LookingGlass Cyber Solutions on Monday.
Recruiters and employers are starting to warn applicants against getting too many cybersecurity training certifications, they tell Axios.
Why it matters: Cybersecurity training certifications aim to show specialized knowledge in everything from securing enterprise networks to the basics of responding to a cyber incident. And entry-level candidates can be swayed into getting as many as possible to appear more employable.
A pair of new reports show analysts are getting more bullish about renewables and electric vehicle adoption — and that gaming out the energy future is really tough.
Driving the news: The International Energy Agency just dropped its largest-ever upward revision of renewable power forecasts.
Ledger had its two highest demand days ever immediately following the FTX bankruptcy (the Sunday and Monday), and then November became its best month of sales.
Why it matters: It's a good time to be a crypto hardware wallet maker. One clear lesson for digital-asset owners after FTX crashed is this: third-party crypto storage is risky. And now Ledger is pouncing with a brand new hardware wallet for do-it-yourselfers.
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, engagement with his tweets has increased significantly, growing much faster than his actual follower count, according to an analysis by Axios.
Why it matters: For Musk, owning Twitter, and using the app to present and defend his plans for the company, has energized his personal platform.
Lawmakers have added a measure to Congress' must-pass defense funding bill that would force Big Tech firms like Google and Meta to pay hundreds of local news outlets for their content,sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: Barring last-minute Capitol Hill maneuvering, the news-funding measure is now on track to pass after failing for years to gather enough support to become law.
Nearly 300 quality assurance workers at video game studios owned by Microsoft have taken steps towards forming a union, according to a representative from the Communication Workers of America, which represents them.
Why it matters: If it succeeds, it’ll be the biggest effort to unionize yet seen in the game industry.
Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield will leave parent company Salesforce early next month, the company confirms to Axios. He'll be succeeded by longtime Salesforce cloud executive Lidiane Jones.
Why it matters: This comes less than two years after Salesforce bought Slack for $28 billion, and only a week after Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor submitted his own resignation.
Social media is full of questions about why Sam Bankman-Fried hasn't been arrested, often with a reminder of how much money the former FTX CEO gave to Democratic politicians.
Clichéd and accurate answer: The wheels of justice turn slowly.
Adobe is opening its stock images service to creations made with the help of generative AI programs like Dall-E and Stable Diffusion, the company tells Axios.
Why it matters: While some see the emerging AI creation tools as a threat to jobs or a legal minefield (or both), Adobe is embracing them.
Meta is testing age verification tools on Facebook Dating, a move the company says will make the product safer, per an announcement shared exclusively with Axios.
Stronger limits on the export of U.S.-made technology are essential to containing threats from Russia and China, according to a new report shared first with Axios.
Between the lines: Export limits can play a powerful role in ensuring national security, but the agency responsible for managing those rules needs a bigger budget and staffing to carry out that mission, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
The newest AI wonder, ChatGPT — the latest in a line of incredibly quickly-evolving AI text generators — is causing jaws to drop and brows to furrow.
What's happening: Users are telling ChatGPT to rewrite literary classics in new styles or to produce performance reviews of their colleagues, and the results can be scarily good.
Elon Musk's year-end balance sheet for 2022 is full of red ink.
Why it matters: The world's richest man has been an icon of technological success, but his moves this year — led by his purchase of Twitter — have slashed his financial bottom line and tarnished his personal capital.
New Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk doesn't appear to be a fan of former President Trump's response to the "Twitter files" release late last week.
Driving the news: "The Constitution is greater than any President," Musk tweeted in response to a Fox News article on Trump calling to toss out parts of the Constitution. "End of story," Musk added.
