Category: Business

• Fisker initiated another round of layoffs on Wednesday, multiple sources told Business Insider.
• The company has gone through a series of cuts and warned it might go out of business.
• Henrik Fisker has said the company is in talks with other automakers regarding a potential acquisition.

Embattled EV startup Fisker kicked off another round of layoffs on Wednesday, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider.

Fisker has made multiple cuts to its workforce over the last few months. In February, Fisker CEO Henrik announced plans to cut 15% of its staff. Most recently, Fisker sent a round of layoff notices on April 29.

The series of cuts are designed to eventually bring the workforce down to a skeleton crew of only "mission critical" staff, one Fisker employee with knowledge of the issue said.

The total number of employees impacted by this latest staff reduction wasn't clear. A spokesperson for Fisker declined to comment.

Fisker has warned multiple times over the past few months that the company might go out of business within the year. On April 29, the company sent out notices to staff in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, warning employees that they might be laid off in two months if the company is not able to find a buyer or additional funding.

That same month, Fisker had told workers in an all-hands meeting that it was in talks with four automakers regarding a potential buyout.

Last week, Fisker's CEO told staff in a companywide meeting that the company had reached out to other automakers in addition to the initial four regarding an acquisition.

"I do hope we're closing in on something serious here in weeks rather than months," Henrik Fisker said at the time.

In March, Business Insider first reported that Fisker had delivered over 6,000 of its all-electric SUV, the Fisker Ocean, since its launch. A year prior, the company said it had "approximately 65,000" reservations for the vehicle ahead of its US launch in June 2023, but the company has faced negative reviews and cancellations since its launch.

Do you work for Fisker or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email at gkay@insider.com

• The Equinox EV is a solid addition to the electric crossover market.
• I found that Super Cruise elevates the experience behind the wheel.
• The Equinox EV is priced and designed to compete directly with Tesla's mass-market cars.

There's another electric Chevrolet crossover on the market as the bowtie brand leans into EVs while others are pulling back.

I got to take the new all-electric Equinox EV on a quick drive in Metro Detroit and came away impressed with the little hatchback's performance.

Two trims are available on dealer lots today, with a starting price of $43,295. That's a new, much-needed option in the sub-$50,000 price range for EVs. GM is also promising even cheaper options for the Equinox later this year, with a base model that starts at $34,995.

The Equinox EV has an EPA-estimated range of 319 miles. Its DC fast-charging capability of up to 150 kW enables 77 miles of range to be added in 10 minutes of charging, according to GM estimates.

The Equinox EV also boasts plenty of cargo space, with 57.2 cubic feet of storage with the second row folded down.

This little Tesla fighter, priced and designed to compete directly with Model 3 and Model Y, delivered a smooth ride on GM's pre-selected course that included surface road and highway driving.

The Tesla influence on the Equinox EV is undeniable

The first things I noticed as I approached the Equinox EV for my test drive were the door handles. When the vehicle is locked, the handles lay flush with the door. Unlocked, they pop out like a level to pull and open the door.

This is a direct nod to Tesla, which originated this door handle design. On a mostly sunny 75-degree day, they didn't give me any trouble, but cold weather does seem to cause trouble for these mechanical door handles.

The styling on the Equinox EV turns a milquetoast mom car into a stylish prowler

The gas-powered Equinox is one of many boring crossovers in Chevrolet's portfolio. The layman might not be able to distinguish it from a Trax or a Blazer.

But the electrified version is designed to stand out, with a hood that swoops down to narrow headlights, helping give the crossover a menacing stance. More sculpting around the back wheels also gives it a wider appearance, too, making it more distinct from its gas-powered counterpart.

Sleeker design is a must-have in the electric crossover market, which also includes lookers like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Mustang Mach-E.

Unlike the sparse Tesla models, Equinox EV has buttons, nobs, and vents that accent the space

I've always found the sparse interior of the Model 3 and Model Y to feel a bit cavernous, so I was glad to see a lot of accenting and design cues built into the Equinox EV's interior.

Some trims also have more fun color combinations for the leather seating to add a bit of personality inside the car.

Still, overall I found the interior of the electric car to be somewhat underwhelming. I've sat in a lot of Chevrolet interiors over the years, this one didn't feel all that different or special.

Super Cruise elevates the experience in the Equinox EV

While the Equinox EV's interior leaves a bit to be desired, the optional Super Cruise hands-free technology elevates the driving experience to make the Equinox EV feel more special than your average crossover.

I sat back and enjoyed the sunny ride on the highway while Super Cruise navigated traffic.

The Equinox EV is a solid addition to the electric crossover market, but Chevy has a lot to prove with Ultium

Overall, I enjoyed my time behind the wheel of the Equinox EV. It delivers the zippy ride you expect from a battery-powered car, and Chevrolet's engineers have tuned the car to hug corners and feel smooth and stable out on the road.

There aren't a ton of extra frills or surprises, but the Equinox EV gave me just about everything I would want out of an electric crossover — the type of EV I'd be most likely to add to my own driveway.

But I can't help but wonder how some of the troubles with the Ultium technology in the Blazer rollout will affect its chances up against Hyundai, Kia, and Tesla. Electric car customers today are less patient than the techy early adopters who pioneered the market.

Chevrolet is hoping to take advantage of this shift in customer preferences with its trusted reputation as a legacy brand, flooding the market with EVs while others are pulling back. But the Blazer's messy launch, which included a stop-sale to repair software issues, might have an effect on how even the most loyal Chevrolet owner views the Equinox EV.

• A group of content creators, with an animation company Thinko, created Amazon Dating, a satirical dating platform where people can fake-purchase their dream date.
• The website looks eerily similar to Amazon's real site and has functional features that allow users to "buy" the featured dates.
• Some people said putting a price on people, especially on black people during Black History Month, is problematic. Some found Amazon Dating humorous for drawing parallels with the toxic nature of online dating.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Online dating can often make people feel more like commodities than singles looking for love, with photo-heavy profiles for others to swipe through, and suggested chat-up lines.

With that in mind, content creators Suzy Shinn, Atlas Acopian, and Morgan Gruer collaborated with animation company Thinko and created the satirical service Amazon Dating.

On it, users can "buy" people they want to date just as easily as they would a book, a vacuum cleaner, or an avocado-shaped pool float with a removable pit on Amazon.com.

Every person who's "for sale" on Amazon Dating comes with a price, reviews, a bulleted description of hobbies, and even a drop down to choose how tall you want them to be.

They've also added relationship-related features that match Amazon's typical style. Instead of offering different sizes for the humans featured, the Thinko team added "love language" options for each person, so you can choose whether your digitally-designed dream date enjoys words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, or another love language from Gary Chapman's best-selling book.

Different people cost different amounts, which raised some concerns

When you go to the fully functional Amazon Dating homepage, you can see different people as if they were available to purchase.

Although Thinko noted that Amazon Dating was a joke, some viewers didn't like that they monetized humans at different prices.

Others said they found the project funny.

Amazon Dating allows you checkout like you would on the real Amazon website

After browsing the selection of potential dates on Amazon Dating, users can click and "buy" them.

To test the function, Insider "bought" Teddy, 87, in the size "words of affirmation" and at a height of 5'5". Teddy also happened to be the "Deal of the Day."

One previous Teddy customer noted in the reviews section that Teddy was a great gift for a family member.

"I bought as a wedding gift for my great Aunt who is in her 80's and was getting remarried," the faux review read. "They had a cute reaction."

After hitting "add to cart," a review window appeared just like it does for any real Amazon order.

Once the order was placed, a fake confirmation message was generated.

The website has other functional features, including a downloable 'non-ghosting agreement'

In addition to being able to fake-purchase people, Amazon Dating has other clickable and interactive features that poke fun at dating in the digital age.

If you click on the "legal" button in the top menu, for example, you're redirected to a downloadable document called a "Non-Ghosting Agreement."

"This Non-Ghosting Agreement is entered into by and between __________________ ("Disclosing Party") and ___________________ ("Receiving Party") for the purpose of preventing the unauthorized action of "Ghosting," as defined below," the document reads.

And if users click the button for Prime Video, they're redirected to the popular video chatting website Chat Roulette.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company has "no comment" on Amazon Dating.

Editor's note, May 24, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect the chosen name of a source mentioned in the story.

• Read more:
• Since my partner and I moved in together, we can't stop fighting and rarely have sex. What should I do?
• I'm single and sober, but women seemed turned off by my booze-free lifestyle. How can I find love?
• TLC's 'Hot and Heavy' show about 'mixed-weight' couples could hurt and stigmatize fat people, experts say

• Apple could be releasing an all-screen foldable MacBook in 2026.
• Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said production costs could rival the $3,500 Vision Pro headset.
• The rumored MacBook would come with an as-yet-announced M5 series processor.

Apple could be gearing up to release an all-screen, foldable MacBook for 2026, and it may cost quite a bit.

That's according to Ming-Chi Kuo, a much-followed analyst who has previously been a go-to for Apple product predictions, having often done so accurately.

In a Thursday blog post, citing a survey, the supply-chain analyst at TF International Securities said that the product, Apple's first foldable-screen device, could measure 20.25 inches, though "Apple is also considering using an 18.8" panel instead."

The "target mass production schedule for the panel and assembly" is Q4 2025 and H1 2026, respectively, he wrote. That compares to a previous estimate of 2027.

Still, the cost for consumers could reach Vision Pro pricing levels, Kuo wrote. The Vision Pro has a retail price tag of $3,499.

That's because the cost of making a hinge and display that "make the panel as crease-free as possible" looks hefty. It requires "high design specifications," and current preliminary estimates put the panel costs at around $600—$650 and hinge costs at $200—$250 each, he said.

However, "if production yields improve significantly by the time of mass production, these costs could decrease." Plus, "due to the more defined product positioning of the foldable MacBook, the shipments are expected to be significantly higher than those of the Vision Pro. Shipments are estimated to exceed 1 million units in 2026," Kuo estimated. That's a boon for Apple after the mixed success of the headset launched earlier this year.

The MacBook could also come with a yet-to-be-announced M5 chip. When Apple introduced the new iPad Pro on May 7, the tech giant introduced the M4, calling it an "outrageously powerful chip for AI."

• Singapore Airlines announced it will no longer serve meals when the seatbelt light is on.
• This comes after a passenger died and dozens were injured on a flight due to severe turbulence.
• Singapore's swift act to protect the safety of its people and customers is smart and praiseworthy.

Singapore Airlines flight attendants will no longer serve meals when the seatbelt light is on.

Singapore's flag carrier changed its in-flight service policy to ensure its people's and passengers' safety following a fatal turbulence event on one of its flights on May 21.

The airline's prohibition on meal service during turbulence joins its existing policies, which already ban hot beverage service during rough air.

The policy change smartly signals to customers the airline's willingness to act to ensure their safety. In addition, it sends a message to the company's flight attendants that their employer has their safety in mind.

Getting hit in the face by your seatmate's omelet is not fun, but being flung aloft by turbulence while pushing a metal cart can result in serious injuries. The primary job of a flight attendant isn't to serve drinks or dinner. They are in-flight safety professionals. It's their job to work as a team to get you off the plane quickly and safely in the event of an emergency. And their ability to do so is compromised if they've been injured during meal service.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, about 10 hours into its journey from London to Singapore, encountered sudden, severe turbulence while cruising 37,000 feet above over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar. The Boeing 777-300ER, which had 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, diverted to Thailand and landed safely in Bangkok.

The incident resulted in more than 40 injured passengers and crew hospitalized, and the death of one passenger, a 73-year-old British man. According to hospital officials in Bangkok, 22 of those people suffered spinal injuries, while another six suffered skull or brain injuries.

All airlines have a response plan for when the unimaginable happens. Just like the quality of service on flights, some airlines have their act together more than others.

In this case, Singapore responded quickly on social media, posting a series of updates that offered clear and concise information on the incident. They followed that up with action by quickly flying a team of staff from Singapore to Bangkok for additional manpower on the ground and standing up dedicated customer service teams trained in handling crisis situations. Singapore Airlines also organized emergency flights to get uninjured passengers to their destinations while also flying the families of the injured to Bangkok.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong has also met with customers, crew, and their families in Bangkok, the airline said.

Singapore Airlines' response to the incident thus far should be commended. Crisis response is difficult in the best of situations. It is remarkable that they could execute their plan so capably on foreign soil.

• Companies are leveraging 5G for faster speeds, expanded capabilities, and connectivity.
• Cybersecurity professionals at the RSA conference said security is crucial for 5G.
• This article is part of "5G and Connectivity Playbook," a series exploring some of our time's most important tech innovations.

Companies are already using 5G to transform their business models.

With 5G, organizations now have faster internet speeds, expanded capabilities, and an additional avenue of connectivity.

Across sectors, 5G has helped employees work remotely and allows companies to connect from factory floors, warehouses, and more. 5G also enables faster connections for tasks like remote surgery, better customer experiences for people living in remote areas, and agriculture work like driverless tractors. It has also presented a new challenge for cybersecurity.

Business Insider spoke with telecom providers and device makers at the RSA conference earlier this month in San Francisco. They shared how 5G is transforming businesses and security, and how much more is to come.

"I think 5G has impacted the overall state of security just because of the innovation it brings to us," Christine Gadsby, the vice president of product security at BlackBerry, said. "We have to keep track of innovation and make sure we can secure it. 5G is definitely an area where innovation if we're not careful, will outpace the reality of security and our ability to secure."

How 5G is transforming businesses

Telecom providers are using more 5G services within their companies and as business offerings. Large businesses present a big growth area.

Verizon's staff now have laptops with 5G SIM cards that can connect to 5G networks, Chris Novak, the senior director of cybersecurity consulting at Verizon Business, said.

"We take pride in making sure the network is secure and very reliable and something organizations can trust," Novak said.

Telecom companies can also provide private 5G networks to businesses, offering them low latency and high bandwidth to transfer large volumes of data securely. This is especially useful for industrial plants that may have limited WiFi connectivity.

For example, NTT, a Japanese telecom company, offers 5G services to consumers and private 5G services to businesses, particularly in the manufacturing and automotive industries. Businesses can customize these networks to include their security policies and capabilities.

"Because it's under your control, you manage it and you secure it the way you secure your other assets," Shahid Ahmed, a group EVP at NTT, said. "By its very nature of being private, under your control, and not being a public network, it's inherently much more secure."

Overall, customers are using 5G to become more efficient, Gadsby said.

"Customers are thinking about productivity," she said. "They want faster, cheaper, smarter. Customers are really out for quick, fast connection speeds."

5G provides better security

Cybersecurity professionals say that 5G was designed with security in mind from the start, and breaches have been uncommon so far. Businesses are also increasingly partnering with firms to build in cybersecurity from the start.

"Today when we look at it and see how it works, it very much continues to be the most secure thing we ever operated," Novak said.

Casey Ellis, the founder and chief strategy officer of the crowdsourced security company Bugcrowd, said that he's seen growing demand from telecommunications customers to get security feedback on 5G systems to identify vulnerabilities and improve their design architecture.

Earlier this year, Bugcrowd partnered with T-Mobile to hold a 5G Bug Bash, where developers hacked into 5G equipment, apps, and radio systems to find vulnerabilities. This allowed them to work with T-Mobile and other telecommunications companies to fix them.

"It's making sure the vulnerabilities are in the hands of folks that go off and fix the problem," Ellis said. "Usually what we'll do in a more technical or complicated domain is put the hackers that found the issue in touch with the fixer long-term so they can collaborate, not just finding the broken thing."

Managing risks

While connecting to a 5G network is more secure, the biggest risk with 5G is that hackers might gain access to connected devices. Increasingly, more cellular and Internet of Things devices are being connected to organizations' 5G networks, which means more opportunities for hackers if organizations don't properly manage their security.

Novak said some customers are worried because the technology is still relatively new, so they face some unknowns. He added that there's a significant gap between how fast a hacker can exploit vulnerabilities and how fast an organization can patch vulnerabilities.

That's why cybersecurity professionals say constant assessment is critical. Organizations should know what their assets are and lock them down to prevent data losses. They should have full visibility into what devices are connected to their networks and protect them by making sure they use a mature security provider.

In addition, organizations should understand what data is going in and out of devices connected to their networks and should examine traffic patterns for unusual or suspicious activity. Organizations should also make sure their 5G hardware and software are being mended if there are vulnerabilities.

With the rise of generative AI, AI cybersecurity tools can improve network quality and security and analyze network traffic.

"We're always looking at how we can make improvements and how we can make future iterations and updates more secure today," Novak said. "We're always continuing to evaluate what the threat landscape looks like. You don't know what vulnerabilities are out there until someone starts poking around and making it do things it wasn't supposed to do."

The future of 5G

The 5G transformation has not happened as fast as expected, nor has it been deployed at a large scale yet. Still, the cybersecurity landscape and threats in 5G will continue to evolve, Novak said.

Given geopolitical tensions between the US and China, the supply chain will continue to be a more crucial issue for 5G infrastructure.

At the same time, 5G will expand the cybersecurity market, and there's still plenty of room for new players to arise. In the future, more security companies could focus on 5G security for cars, airplanes, medical devices, and more. And in the next five to 10 years, 6G will become more common, Mihoko Matsubara, the chief cybersecurity strategist at NTT, said. She stressed the importance of raising awareness about cybersecurity in connected devices.

"We will see more companies, regardless of size or organization, using 5G as a natural tool for business operations," Matsubara said.

• Russia has pulled combat forces from Africa to support its new offensive in the Kharkiv region.
• Africa Corps units recently deployed to fight with other Russian forces, Western intelligence said.
• The Russian Africa Corps was created last year and consists of former Wagner Group mercenaries. 

Russia has moved some combat forces from Africa to help support its latest offensive efforts in northeastern Ukraine, according to a new Western intelligence assessment.

Over the past week, Moscow has deployed units from its Africa Corps to fight around Vovchansk, a small city in Ukraine's Kharkiv region that has been at the center of intense fighting in recent days, the UK defense ministry wrote in a Friday intelligence update.

The Russian defense ministry created the Africa Corps last year as a way to expand its footprint on the continent and also in the Middle East. The military formation, which has the same name as a World War II Nazi unit, consists of more than 2,000 regular soldiers, officers, and mercenaries — including many who once served in the notorious Wagner Group.

In Ukraine, Africa Corps units have been deployed alongside regular Russian military forces and Storm-Z penal units made up of convicts and troops with disciplinary charges to support the ongoing Kharkiv offensive, Britain's defense ministry noted.

Russia's defense ministry "almost certainly redeployed detachments from the Africa Corps to the Ukrainian border during April 2024 in preparation for this offensive," the defense ministry said. "It is highly likely that Russia is reinforcing its war on Ukraine with resources previously assigned to Africa."

Other Africa Corps detachments are believed to have deployed to Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the UK said.

The Wagner Group — which long operated as a shadowy extension of Russia's foreign policy apparatus until their involvement in the Ukraine war thrust the mercenaries into the limelight — has a history of activity in those countries. The organization has also been accused of committing various atrocities and human rights violations across Africa.

Russia has moved to assume more control over Wagner in the year since the mercenaries staged a failed mutiny last June, sparked by grievances over the Ukraine war. Moscow's grip on the ruthless organization only tightened after its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a still-mysterious plane crash just two months later.

The recent deployment of certain Africa Corps units to the Kharkiv region appears to underscore Russia's commitment to its new offensive.

Earlier this month, after gathering tens of thousands of troops near the border, Russia launched an assault into the region in an attempt to carve out a buffer zone near its territory.

The limited incursion is also designed to stretch thin Ukrainian forces across the sprawling front line and pin down Kyiv's defensive efforts around Kharkiv, possibly signaling the start of what could be a multi-pronged summer offensive.

Nearly two weeks into the offensive, Russia has captured a small amount of territory along the border and is closing in on Vovchansk, which had a pre-war population of more than 17,000 people.

The city has been at the heart of brutal fighting and has fallen victim to Moscow's devastating glide-bomb strikes. Imagery shared to social media shows widespread destruction.

Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a Friday update shared to Facebook that Russia had conducted multiple assaults in the Kharkiv direction, but Kyiv's troops were fighting back and able to repel the attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Kharkiv city on Friday, where he held meetings on the battlefield situation and received updates on defensive operations around Vovchansk.

He wrote in a post on X that "we paid special attention to the housing needs of our people who had been displaced from Kharkiv region territories targeted by enemy shelling."

• The US Air Force's bomber fleet is shrinking as decades-old aircraft face retirement or maintenance.
• The next-generation B-21 Raider offers hope, but budget cuts threaten its timely deployment.
• Ensuring the B-21 program stays on track is crucial to maintaining US deterrence capabilities.

The loss of a B-2 Spirit bomber due to fire and its subsequent retirement highlights the fragility of the US Air Force's bomber fleet.

With only 19 B-2s remaining and several other bombers aging or facing retirements, America's strategic bomber capacity is significantly reduced.

The B-21 Raider offers hope, but budget cuts threaten its timely deployment. Ensuring the B-21 program stays on track is crucial to maintaining US deterrence capabilities.

The US Air Force's bomber fleet shrinks…

Our military's strike capacity is literally going up in smoke. In 2022, a fire upon landing in a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber closed the runway at a critical air base and grounded the entire B-2 fleet for five months. Now, the Pentagon has announced this B-2 is set to be permanently retired, citing that the damage was "uneconomical to repair."  

While the peacetime destruction of just one aircraft may not seem significant, it represents a sizeable chunk of the Air Force's strategic bomber capacity. This lost stealth bomber is one of just 20 (now 19) B-2s in the US Air Force inventory, making each one too significant to lose. 

Of the 19 B-2s on hand, only an estimated 16 of these are considered mission-capable and ready for combat at any given moment, with the rest of the aircraft unavailable due to maintenance or testing requirements. Of those that could fight tonight, some B-2s must always be withheld from deployment to uphold the United States' nuclear deterrent and extended deterrence commitments to treaty allies.

The many demands on an exquisite fleet of strategic assets leave only half of America's stealth bomber inventory ready for worldwide operations daily — making the loss of one aircraft effectively equivalent to roughly 10 percent of the mission-capable B-2 fleet.

 This is the definition of a fragile force, which certainly could not be expected to withstand losses on the modern battlefield and, therefore, lacks credibility as a serious deterrent. The decision to retire the damaged B-2 further shrinks the total US bomber mix to the smallest it's been since the birth of the Air Force in 1947 — 140 aircraft — and the other bomber fleets are not faring much better.

Able to deliver a record-breaking 75,000 pounds of ordnance "anytime, anywhere," the B-1B Lancer has long served as the backbone of the Air Force's strike capability. Though first introduced in 1986, recent efforts to upgrade the B-1B's capability to launch Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles and other experimental hypersonic weapons have reinforced its usefulness in deterring peer adversaries.

However, accidents and retirements plague the aging B-1B fleet as well. Earlier this year, a B-1 crashed during a training mission, destroying the aircraft. In 2022, another B-1 caught fire and was nearly wrecked on the runway, with repairs expected to take three years to bring the aircraft back online.

Both of these incidents follow the retirement of 17 B-1Bs in 2021, as the Air Force has sought to divest from the 40-year-old bomber. Despite the B-1B's powerful payload and modernization efforts, just 45 B-1Bs remain, and their full fleet retirement is expected within the decade.

The Bone isn't even the oldest bomber in America's arsenal; that would be the B-52 Stratofortress. Over a half-century old, the upgraded airframe is expected to remain in service until the 2050s. The B-52 actually makes up nearly half of the existing bomber fleet, standing at 58 airframes in 2023.

However, its advanced age is making maintenance difficult, limiting mission availability until planned modernization is complete. Additionally, the aircraft lacks stealth capability and is less capable than its modern alternatives, limiting its mission scope.

The B-21 Raider bomber is critical

There is a silver lining to America's bomber fleet decline in the B-21 Raider. A longtime coming, the next-generation medium stealth bomber is shaping up to be a rare success story for Pentagon purchasing.

Thus far, the B-21 is coming in under budget and developing in record time, setting the stage for successful production and deployment at scale.

For the B-21 to provide the force with timely strike capability and rescue the rapidly shrinking fleet, however, the program can afford no delay nor can its procurement quantity shrink. Unfortunately, under the "hard choices" of the budget caps constraining the Pentagon's FY 2025 request, investment in key future capabilities is being sacrificed for readiness today.

B-21 procurement funding would fall by nearly 30 percent from previous projections should the White House budget request be approved by Congress. Though procurement quantities are not provided, subtracting funding is hardly a recipe for success and could result in the delay of crucial deliveries, a loss of lower pricing because of bulk buying, and eventually a total tail cut.

Washington must recognize the strategic failure of a small and antiquated bomber fleet. The Air Force was initially meant to procure 132 B-2s but ended up buying just 21 due to the high unit cost and a supposedly depleted need for stealthy strike capability during the war on terror. The resulting fragile fleet illustrates that the abandonment of bomber procurement was a short-sighted mistake that must be rectified if the United States is to uphold deterrence across three theaters of the world at all times. 

A tiny bomber force that cannot afford losses, especially in peacetime, will not deter nor defeat America's emboldened adversaries. As Congress considers next year's defense budget request, they must work to ensure the B-21 stays on schedule by providing full funding to keep the program meeting cost and schedule targets. Facilitating the on-time deployment of the next generation bomber cannot come too soon in order to restore the size and strength of America's bomber fleet.

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Sony has launched its latest lineup of 4K TVs, with sizes ranging from 43 inches to 85 inches. The new collection features LED, OLED, and Mini LED models, including the company's brightest 4K TV ever.  

To help shoppers easily determine where each new TV falls in the lineup, Sony has introduced a simplified naming scheme that puts its Bravia branding front and center. On the high end, there's the Bravia 9 Mini LED, followed by the Bravia 8 OLED and Bravia 7 Mini LED, and capped off by the entry-level Bravia 3 LED.

In addition to those four new displays, the company is retaining three 4K TV models from 2023. These include the midrange X90L QLED, the smaller-sized A90K OLED, and the premium A95L OLED, which is our top high-end pick for the best TV you can buy. 

All of Sony's 2024 models once again use the Google TV operating system, which offers access to all of the best streaming services and typically performs well in our tests. The Bravia 7, 8, and 9 also include a new feature called "Voice Zoom 3," which can isolate dialogue in movies and TV shows so you can adjust the volume of speech without impacting other sound effects.

Prices start at $600 and go up to $5,500, depending on the model and size you choose. Below, we've listed the sizes, prices, features, and retail options for each model to help you decide which Sony TV is right for your needs. 

Sony Bravia 9 Mini LED 4K TV price and specs

• Sony 85-inch Bravia 9 Mini LED 4K TV ($5,499.99) – See at B&H Photo
• Sony 75-inch Bravia 9 Mini LED 4K TV ($3,999.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 65-inch Bravia 9 Mini LED 4K TV ($3,299.99) – See at Amazon

The Bravia 9 is Sony's latest flagship TV geared toward buyers who want the absolute best image quality. It's an advanced QLED with a Mini LED backlight and local dimming, and Sony says it's the company's brightest 4K TV so far.

This high brightness is a key factor in realizing Sony's desire to preserve the creative intent of filmmakers. To this end, Sony says the Bravia 9 uses technology similar to what's employed in its new BVM-HX3110 professional monitor, which can achieve a whopping 4,000 nits of peak brightness. The BVM-HX3110 is marketed toward Hollywood colorists for use during the mastering process of their upcoming films, and its impressive luminance could result in more movies being graded with higher brightness levels in mind.

In theory, this direct link between the Bravia 9 and the actual post-production equipment used by the film industry should enable it to produce an incredibly accurate image with brightness and color performance that more closely mirrors what filmmakers create on their mastering monitors. Sony's past flagship TVs have done an exceptional job of mimicking the look of its previous-generation professional monitors, so we have high expectations that the Bravia 9 will follow suit.  

However, while the Bravia 9's brightness capabilities are impressive, it's important to note that this is a Mini LED QLED TV rather than an OLED. As such, it uses a backlight instead of self-illuminating pixels, and it relies on local dimming zones to control its contrast and light output. With that in mind, Sony is touting some big advancements for the TV's local dimming tech and says that the Bravia 9 has up to 325% more dimming zones than its flagship Mini LED TV from 2023, the X95L. 

Though we've seen some models get close, we've yet to test a Mini LED TV that can truly mimic the pixel-level precision and perfect black-level performance of an OLED, so we're curious to see how Sony's latest local dimming process stacks up. We will begin testing a Bravia 9 unit soon, so check back for our full review. 

Sony Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV price and specs

• Sony 77-inch Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV ($3,899.99) – See at B&H Photo 
• Sony 65-inch Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV ($2,799.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 55-inch Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV ($1,999.99) – See at Amazon 

Sony's Bravia 8 is its only new OLED TV set for release in 2024. This midrange model is the successor to last year's A80L, and it's expected to deliver very similar performance with a few upgrades here and there. Meanwhile, the high-end A95L OLED from 2023, one of our picks for the best 4K TVs you can buy, is carrying over to 2024.

Sony says that the Bravia 8 will deliver a modest increase in peak brightness compared to the A80L, but general image quality will be about the same. With that in mind, we expect around 700 to 800 nits of brightness, which is decent for a midrange OLED but much lower than the 1,500 nits peak you can get on pricier flagship models. 

More so than picture improvements, Sony is touting design tweaks as the main upgrade for the Bravia 8 over its predecessor. The company says the Bravia 8 is 31% thinner than its 2023 predecessor, and its bezel is 29% slimmer. It also has an updated four-way stand.

The A80L was a great TV in its own right, so it makes sense that Sony won't be reinventing the wheel with the Bravia 8. However, we tend to give competing midrange OLEDs from Samsung and LG a slight edge over Sony's options in this class since they often deliver similar image quality for less money.  

Sony Bravia 7 Mini LED 4K TV price and specs

• Sony 85-inch Bravia 7 Mini LED 4K TV ($3,499.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 75-inch Bravia 7 Mini LED 4K TV ($2,799.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 65-inch Bravia 7 Mini LED 4K TV ($2,299.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 55-inch Bravia 7 Mini LED 4K TV ($1,899.99) – See at Amazon

The Bravia 7 is designed to serve as a more affordable step-down version of Sony's flagship Bravia 9, and it also uses a QLED panel with a Mini LED backlight and local dimming. But the Bravia 7 can't get as bright as the Bravia 9, and it doesn't have as many dimming zones, so its contrast control isn't as precise.

But that's not to say the Bravia 7 won't deliver high-end image quality. Sony says this model will perform a lot like the X95L, which was the brand's flagship QLED last year. Sony's X95L was an impressive TV, but it was only available in an 85-inch screen size in the US, so it will be nice to get a similar level of performance in more sizes with the Bravia 7.

Sony's QLEDs in this class tend to be pricier than options with similar specs from budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense, but their higher cost comes with a few notable perks, like superior picture processing, better quality control, and fancier design elements with sturdier builds. 

Sony Bravia 3 LED 4K TV price and specs

• Sony 85-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV ($1,799.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 75-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV ($1,299.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 65-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV  ($999.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 55-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV  ($849.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 50-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV ($699.99) – See at Amazon
• Sony 43-inch Bravia 3 LED 4K TV ($599.99) – See at Amazon

On the entry-level side of Sony's 2024 lineup is the Bravia 3. This basic smart TV uses a standard direct-lit LED panel without Mini LEDs, quantum dots, or local dimming. As such, it's not expected to come anywhere near the picture capabilities of its pricier siblings. But, it should still provide a reliable experience for casual streaming and cable TV viewing. 

The Bravia 3 appears to replace last year's X77L, but it remains to be seen whether it offers any improvements. Based on our knowledge of past Sony models in this class, the Bravia 3 will likely end up being a bit overpriced for what it offers in the picture quality department. 

Generally, Sony excels more at upper midrange and high-end TVs, while brands like TCL, Hisense, and Vizio deliver better value for your dollar in the entry-level and mid-tier markets. For instance, you can get a 65-inch Hisense U6K with a Mini LED backlight, quantum dots, and local dimming for just $500, half the price of the less advanced 65-inch Bravia 3. 

• Last year's job cuts weren't the end of layoffs. Further reductions have begun in 2024.
• Companies like Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Amazon have announced plans for cuts this year.
• See the full list of corporations reducing their worker numbers in 2024.

A slew of companies across the tech, media, finance, and retail industries made significant cuts to staff in 2023. Tech titans like IBM, Google, Microsoft, finance giants like Goldman Sachs, and manufacturers like Dow all announced layoffs.

This year is looking grim too. And it's only May.

Nearly 40% of business leaders surveyed by ResumeBuilder think layoffs are likely at their companies this year, and about half say their companies will implement a hiring freeze. ResumeBuilder talked to about 900 leaders at organizations with more than 10 employees. Half of those surveyed cited concerns about a recession as a reason.

Another major factor is artificial intelligence. Around four in 10 respondents said they'll conduct layoffs as they replace workers with AI. Dropbox, Google, and IBM have already announced job cuts related to AI.

Here are the dozens of companies with job cuts planned or already underway in 2024.

Nike's up-to-$2 billion cost-cutting plan will involve severances.

Nike announced its cost-cutting plans in a December 2023 earnings call, discussing a slow growth in sales. The call subsequently resulted in Nike's stock plunging.

"We are seeing indications of more cautious consumer behavior around the world," Nike Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said in December.

Google laid off hundreds more workers in 2024.

On January 10, Google laid off hundreds of workers in its central engineering division and members of its hardware teams — including those working on its voice-activated assistant.

In an email to some affected employees, the company encouraged them to consider applying for open positions at Google if they want to remain employed. According to the email, April 9 will be the last day for those unable to secure a new position.

The tech giant laid off thousands throughout 2023, beginning with a 6% reduction of its global workforce (about 12,000 people) last January.

Discord is laying off 170 employees.

Discord employees learned about the layoffs in an all-hands meeting and a memo sent by CEO Jason Citron in early January.

"We grew quickly and expanded our workforce even faster, increasing by 5x since 2020," Citron said in the memo. "As a result, we took on more projects and became less efficient in how we operated."

In August 2023, Discord reduced its headcount by 4%. According to CNBC, the company was valued at $15 billion in 2021.

Citi will cut 20,000 from its staff as part of its corporate overhaul.

The layoffs announced in January are part of a larger Citigroup initiative to restructure the business and could leave the company with a remaining head count of 180,000 — excluding its Mexico operations.

In an earnings call that month, the bank said that layoffs could save the company up to $2.5 billion after it suffered a "very disappointing" final quarter last year.

Amazon-owned Twitch also announced job cuts.

Twitch announced on January 10 that it would cut 500 jobs, affecting over a third of the employees at the live-streaming company.

CEO Dan Clancy announced the layoffs in a memo, telling staff that while the company has tried to cut costs, the operation is "meaningfully" bigger than necessary.

"As you all know, we have worked hard over the last year to run our business as sustainably as possible," Clancy wrote. "Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step to reduce our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch."

BlackRock is planning to cut 3% of its staff.

Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, and Rob Kapito, the firm's president, announced in January that the layoffs would affect around 600 people from its workforce of about 20,000.

However, the company has plans to expand in other areas to support growth in its overseas markets.

"As we prepare for 2024 and this very exciting but distinctly different landscape, businesses across the firm have developed plans to reallocate resources," the company leaders said in a memo.

Rent the Runway is slashing 10% of its corporate jobs as part of a restructuring.

In the fashion company's January announcement, COO and president Anushka Salinas said she will also be leaving the firm, Fast Company reported.

Unity Software is eliminating 25% of its workforce.

Around 1,800 jobs at the video game software company will be affected by the layoffs announced, Reuters reported in January.

eBay is cutting 1,000 jobs.

In a January 23 memo, CEO Jamie Iannone told employees that the eBay layoffs will affect about 9% of the company's workforce.

Iannone told employees that layoffs were necessary as the company's "overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business."

The company also plans to scale back on contractors.

Microsoft is reducing its headcount by 1,900 at Activision, Xbox, and ZeniMax.

In late January, nearly three months after Microsoft acquired video game firm Activision Blizzard, the company announced layoffs in its gaming divisions. The layoffs mostly affect employees at Activision Blizzard.

"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a memo obtained by The Verge.

The cuts come a year after the tech giant announced it was reducing its workforce by 10,000 employees. It then slashed a further 1,000 roles across sales and customer service teams in July 2023.

Salesforce is cutting 700 employees across the company, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Salesforce announced a round of layoffs that the company says will affect 1% of its global workforce, The Journal reported in late January.

The cuts followed a wave of cuts at the cloud giant last year. In 2023, Marc Benioff's company laid off about 10% of its total workforce — or roughly 7,000 jobs. The CEO said the company over-hired during the pandemic.

Flexport lays off 15% of its workers.

In late January, the US logistics startup laid off 15% of its staff which is around 400 workers.

The move came after Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen initiated a 20% reduction of its workforce of an estimated 2,600 employees in October.

Flexport kicked off 2024 with the announcement that it raised $260 million from Shopify and made "massive progress toward returning Flexport to profitability."

iRobot is laying off around 350 employees and founder Colin Angle will step down as chairman and CEO.

The company behind the Roomba Vacuum announced layoffs in late January around the same time Amazon decided not to go through with its proposed acquisition of the company, the Associated Press reported.

UPS will cut 12,000 jobs in 2024.

The UPS layoffs will affect 14% of the company's 85,000 managers and could save the company $1 billion in 2024, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said during a January earnings call.

Paypal CEO Alex Chriss announced the company would lay off 9% of its workforce.

Announced in late January, this round of layoffs will affect about 2,500 employees at the payment processing company.

"We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth," CEO Alex Chriss wrote in a January memo. "At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth."

Okta is cutting roughly 7% of its workforce.

The digital-access-management company announced its plans for a "restructuring plan intended to improve operating efficiencies and strengthen the Company's commitment to profitable growth" in an SEC filing in February.

The cuts will impact roughly 400 employees.

Okta CEO Todd McKinnon told staff in a memo that "costs are still too high," CNBC reported.

Snap has announced more layoffs.

The company behind Snapchat announced in February that it's reducing its global workforce by 10%, according to an SEC filing.

Estée Lauder said it will eliminate up to 3,100 positions.

The cosmetics company announced in February that it would be cutting 3% to 5% of its roles as part of a restructuring plan.

Estee Lauder reportedly employed about 62,000 employees around the world as of June 30, 2023.

DocuSign is eliminating roughly 6% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan.

The electronic signature company said in an SEC filing in February that most of the cuts will be in its sales and marketing divisions.

Zoom is slashing 150 jobs.

The latest reduction announced in February amounts to about 2% of its workforce.

Paramount Global is laying off 800 employees days after record-breaking Super Bowl.

In February, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish sent a memo to employees announcing that 800 jobs — about 3% of its workforce — were being cut.

Deadline obtained the memo less than a month after reporting plans for layoffs at Paramount. The announcement comes on the heels of Super Bowl LVIII reaching record-high viewership across CBS, Paramount+, and Nickelodeon, and Univision.

Morgan Stanley is trimming its wealth management division by hundreds of staffers.

Morgan Stanley is laying off several hundred employees in its wealth-management division, the Wall Street Journal reported in February, representing roughly 1% of the team.

The wealth-management division has seen some slowdown in recent months, with net new assets down by about 8% from a year ago. The layoffs mark the first major move by newly-installed CEO Ted Pick, who took the reins from James Gorman on January 1.

Cisco slashes more than 4,000 jobs amid corporate tech sales slowdown.

In February, networking company Cisco announced it was slashing 5% of its workforce, or upwards of 4,000 jobs, Bloomberg reported.

The company said it was restructuring after an industry-wide pullback in corporate tech spending — which execs said they expect to continue through the first half of the year.

Expedia Group is cutting more than 8% of its workforce.

Cutbacks part of an operational review at online travel giant Expedia Group are expected to impact 1,500 roles this year, a company spokesperson told BI.

The company's product and technology division is set to be the worst hit, a report from GeekWire said, citing an internal memo CEO Peter Kern sent to employees in late February.

"While this review will result in the elimination of some roles, it also allows the company to invest in core strategic areas for growth," the spokesperson said.

"Consultation with local employee representatives, where applicable, will occur before making any final decisions," they added.

Sony is laying off 900 workers

The cuts at Sony Interactive Entertainment swept through its game-making teams at PlayStation Studios.

Insomniac Games, which developed the hit Spider-Man video game series, as well as Naughty Dog, the developers behind Sony's flagship 'The Last of Us' video games' were hit by the cuts, the company announced on February 27.

All of PlayStation's London studio will be shuttered, according to the proposal.

"Delivering and sustaining social, online experiences – allowing PlayStation gamers to explore our worlds in different ways – as well as launching games on additional devices such as PC and Mobile, requires a different approach and different resources," PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst wrote.

Hulst added that some games in development will be shut down, though he didn't say which ones.

In early February, Sony said it missed its target for selling PlayStation 5 consoles. The earnings report sent shares tumbling and the company's stock lost about $10 billion in value.

Bumble is slashing 30% of its workforce

On February 27, the dating app company announced that it would be reducing its staff due to "future strategic priorities" for its business, per a statement.

The cuts will impact about 30% of its about 1,200 person workforce or about 350 roles, a representative for Bumble told BI by email.

"We are taking significant and decisive actions that ensure our customers remain at the center of everything we do as we relaunch Bumble App, transform our organization and accelerate our product roadmap," Bumble Inc CEO Lidiane Jones said in a statement.

Electronic Arts is reducing its workforce by 5%

Electronic Arts is laying off about 670 workers, equating to 5% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported in late February.

The gaming firm axed two mobile games earlier in February, which it described as a difficult decision in a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz.

CEO Andrew Wilson reportedly told employees in a memo that it would be "moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry."

Wilson also said in the memo that the cuts came as a result of shifting customer needs and a refocusing of the company, Bloomberg reported.

IBM cutting staff in marketing and communications

IBM's chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek told employees on March 12 that it would be cutting staff, CNBC reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

An IBM spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that the cuts follow a broader workforce action the company announced during its earnings call in January.

"In 4Q earnings earlier this year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing charge that would represent a very low single-digit percentage of IBM's global workforce, and we expect to exit 2024 at roughly the same level of employment as we entered with," they said.

IBM has also been clear about the impact of AI on its workforce. Last May, IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna said the company expected to pause hiring on roles that could be replaced by AI, especially in areas like human resources and other non-consumer-facing departments.

"I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," Krishna told Bloomberg at the time.

Stellantis is slashing 400 white-collar jobs

On March 22, the owner of Jeep and Dodge announced it's laying off employees on its engineering, technology, and software teams in an effort to cut costs, CNBC reported.

Workers learned they were being let go through video calls after the car company ordered them to work remotely for the day. The cuts are set to occur on March 31.

Amazon is laying off hundreds in its cloud division in yet another round of cuts this year

Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs from its cloud division known as Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg reported on April 3.

The reduction will impact employees on the sales and marketing team and those working on tech for its retail stores, Bloomberg reported.

"We've identified a few targeted areas of the organization we need to streamline in order to continue focusing our efforts on the key strategic areas that we believe will deliver maximum impact," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg.

On March 26, Amazon announced another round of job cuts after the company said it was slashing 'several hundred' jobs at its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions earlier this year to refocus on more profitable products.

"We've identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact," Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, told employees in January.

This year's cuts follow the largest staff layoff in the company's history. In 2023, the tech giant laid off 18,000 workers.

Apple has cut over 600 employees in California

Apple has slashed its California workforce by more than 600 employees.

The cuts follow Apple's decision to withdraw from its car and smartwatch display projects.

The tech giant filed a series of notices to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification program. One of the addresses was linked to a new display development office, while the others were for the company's EV effort, Bloomberg reported.

Apple officially shut down its decadelong EV project in February. At the time, Bloomberg reported that some employees would move to generative AI, but others would be laid off.

Bloomberg noted that the layoffs were likely an undercount of the full scope of staff cuts, as Apple had staff working on these projects in other locations.

Representatives for Apple did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside normal business hours.

Tesla is laying off over 10% of its workforce

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a memo to employees Sunday, April 14, at nearly midnight in California, informing them of the company's plan to cut over 10% of its global workforce.

In his companywide memo, Musk cited "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas" as the reason behind the reductions.

An email sent to terminated employees obtained by BI read: "Effective now, you will not need to perform any further work and therefore will no longer have access to Tesla systems and physical locations."

On April 29, Musk reportedly sent an email stating the need for more layoffs at Tesla. He also announced the departure of two executives and said that their reports would also be let go. Six known Tesla executives have left the company since layoffs began in April.

Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive is reducing its workforce by 5%

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, said on April 16 that it would be "eliminating several projects" and reducing its workforce by about 5%.

The move — a part of its larger "cost reduction program" — will cost the video game publisher up to $200 million. It's expected to be completed by December 31.

As of March 2023, the company said it employed approximately 11,580 full-time workers.

Peloton is reducing its staff by 15% as the CEO steps down as well

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is stepping down, the company announced May 2. Along with his departure, the fitness company is also laying off about 400 workers.

McCarthy is leaving his role just two years after replacing John Foley as CEO and president in 2022. Peloton said the changes are expected to reduce annual expenses by over $200 million by the end of fiscal 2025 as part of a larger restructuring plan.

Microsoft-owned Xbox is cutting more jobs

Xbox is offering some employees voluntary severance packages in May after shutting three units and absorbing a fourth earlier in the month. Microsoft had already made cuts to the division at the start of 2024.

According to Bloomberg, the offers were extended to producers, quality assurance testers, and more staff at Xbox-owned ZeniMax. Others across the Xbox organization were told that more cuts are coming.

Xbox president Matt Booty told staff in a May 8 town hall that the studio closures are part of an effort to free up more resources, Bloomberg reported.

Indeed is cutting 1,000 workers after laying off 2,200 a year ago

Careers site Indeed says it will lay off roughly 1,000 employees, or 8% of its workforce, as it looks to simplify its organization.

CEO Chris Hyams took responsibility for "how we got here" in a memo in May but said the company is not yet set up for growth after last year's global hiring slowdown caused multiple quarters of declining sales.

Hyams said the latest cuts will be more concentrated in the US and primarily affect R&D and Go-to-Market teams. That's in contrast to last year's across-the-board reduction of 2,200 workers.

Walmart is axing hundreds of corporate jobs

Retail giant Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs and asking remote employees to come to work, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Workers in smaller offices, such as those in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto, are also being asked to move to central locations like Walmart's corporate headquarters in Arkansas or those in New Jersey or California, the Journal reported.

Under Armour is slashing an unspecified number of jobs, incurring $22 million in severance costs

Under Armour confirmed it was conducting layoffs in its quarterly earnings report, which was released May 16.

The company said it will pay out employee severance and benefits expenses of roughly $15 million in cash-related and $7 million in non-cash charges this year related to a restructuring plan, with close to half of that occurring in the current fiscal quarter.

"This is not where I envisaged Under Armour playing at this point in our journey," CEO Kevin Plank told investors on the company's full-year earnings call. "That said, we'll use this turbulence to reconstitute our brand and business, giving athletes, retail customers and shareholders bigger and better reasons to care about and believe in Under Armour's potential."

Pixar cuts about 175 people in pivot back to feature films

Disney's Pixar Animation Studios is cutting 175 people, about 14% of its staff, Reuters reported.

The cuts started on May 21 as the studio returns to its focus on feature-length movies. Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who was axed in 2022, had increased staff across studios to create more content for the company's streaming service, Disney+.

Pixar cut 75 jobs last year, Reuters previously reported, part of a larger restructuring across Disney.

Lucid Motors is slashing around 400 jobs.

In a regulatory filing, Lucid Motors said it would lay off about 400 employees as part of a restructuring plan that should be complete by the end of the third quarter.

"I'm confident Lucid will deliver the world's best SUV and dramatically expand our total addressable market, but we aren't generating revenue from the program yet," CEO Peter Rawlinson said in an email to employees obtained by TechCrunch.

The cuts come ahead of Lucid's launch of its first electric SUV later this year. It comes over a year after the California-based company laid off 1,300 employees, TechCrunch previously reported.