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Emirates NBD H1 profit $3.40bn

Total income rose by 12 percent in the same period.

ADIB H1 pre-tax profit $1.08bn

Q2 pre-tax net profit increases by 14 percent.

AstraZeneca to invest $50bn in US

Bulk of funds to go into a Virginia manufacturing center.

UAB net profit up by 50% for H1

Total assets increase by 11 percent.

TSMC Q2 profit up 60%

TSMC is the world's largest contract maker of chips.

Google CEO says more layoffs are likely this year

It is one of two federal suits targeting Google that could ultimately see the company split up and curb its influence. (AFP)
  • Google laid off around 12,000 people this time last year, about six percent of its workforce, in the face of inflation and rising interest rates.
  • The company confirmed it is eliminating "a few hundred" positions from its global ad team, amid a push to use AI for efficiency and creativity.

SAN FRANCISCO, US – Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned employees that more layoffs are in store at the search engine giant as it focused on new priorities, including artificial intelligence.

“These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions and will not touch every team. But I know it’s very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted,” Pichai said in an email to staff seen by AFP on Thursday.

“Many of these changes are already announced, though to be upfront, some teams will continue to make specific resource allocation decisions throughout the year where needed, and some roles may be impacted,” he added.

Google laid off around 12,000 people this time last year, about six percent of its workforce, in the face of inflation and rising interest rates.

The company on Tuesday confirmed it is eliminating “a few hundred” positions from its global ad team, amid a push to use AI for efficiency and creativity.

The job cuts to its “large customer” sales team are intended to result in better support for small and medium size businesses advertising on Google’s platform, according to the internet giant.

The company on Wednesday also laid off about 100 employees at its YouTube arm, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.

According to the New York Times, the YouTube workers have two months to find new roles within the company before their dismissals take effect.

Since the start of 2024, tech titan Amazon has also cut staff, targeting hundreds of people at its entertainment units Twitch, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.

Since late 2022, US tech giants have culled tens of thousands of staff in an unprecedented layoff spree after over-hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Facebook-owner Meta laid off more than 20,000 workers in the period, in what it called the “Year of Efficiency.”

Amazon lost 27,000 workers.