Google sacks employees for protests over Israel project, government's new CCTV rules, new launches from Vivo, Motorola, and other top news of the week

Google this week sacked 28 employees for protests over its project with the Israeli government. In an email, CEO Sundar Pichai said that the workplace is not a place for politics. The company is also cutting some jobs and moving some of those roles to countries including India. Meta has launched Meta AI for its apps and consumer hardware products.

Nothing has launched two earphones, Vivo and Motorola unveiled smartphones. All this and other tech news of the week.

Google sacks 28 employees for protests over 'Israel contract' at its buildings
Google fired 28 employees who participated in sit-in protests at company offices. The employees were protesting against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon.com Inc to provide the Israeli government with AI and cloud services. The protests were led by the No Tech for Apartheid organisation and reportedly took place across Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California. Click here to read more.

Google lays off more employees, moving some job roles to India
Google is reportedly cutting more jobs. The company is said to be laying off an unspecified number of employees. According to a report in Business Insider, Google is letting go of more employees and restructuring some teams. A small percentage of the impacted roles will reportedly move to hubs that Google is said to be investing in, including India, Chicago, Atlanta and Dublin. Click here to read more.

Meta Al rolling out to WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger

Meta has ramped up AI competition by launching Llama 3 to challenge OpenAI. The AI assistant will be integrated into various platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, offering sophisticated features like text and image generation. The company aims to lead in the generative AI market expansion worldwide. Click here to read more.

Paytm starts user migration to new UPI IDs
Paytm's parent company, One 97 Communications (OCL), has been authorised by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to migrate users to new banks for UPI payments. This follows NPCI's approval in March for OCL to operate as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) under a multi-bank model. NPCI's approval allows Paytm to continue offering UPI services through these partner banks. Click here to read more.

TCS CEO K Krithivasan's ‘thanks letter’ to employees and COO NG Subramaniam
Tata Consultancy Services CEO K Krithivasan is set to complete almost an year at top. CEO K Krithivasan took over as the company's CEO in June last year. As the new financial year starts, Krithivasan sent an email to the company's over 6-lakh strong workforce. In the email, a copy of which ET has seen, Krithivasan talked about a range of things including thanking TCSers for the company's impressive performance in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2024. Click here to know more.

Vivo T3x 5G launched in India: Price, specifications and more
Vivo has expanded its smartphone portfolio with the launch of T3x 5G smartphone in India. The smartphone is said to offer a faster performance and multitasking experience to users. Vivo has launched the T3x 5G in three variants. The T3x 5G price starts at Rs 13,499 for the 4GB+128GB variant, Rs 14,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and Rs 16,499 for the 8GB+128GB variant. The smartphone will go on sale starting April 24 across Flipkart, vivo India e-store and all partner retail stores. The handset is available in two colour options -- Crimson Bliss and Celestial Green. Click here to know more.

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra with 16GB RAM, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset launched
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is now official. Lenovo-owned Motorola has expanded its smartphone lineup with the launch of its flagship smartphone - Motorola Edge 50 Ultra in global markets. The smartphone houses a 1.5K OLED display and is powered by a Qualcomm chipset. The smartphone sports a 50MP front camera and it is backed by a 4500 mAh battery. Click here to know more.

Nothing Ear, Nothing Ear (a) true wireless earbuds with ChatGPT launched

Consumer technology brand Nothing has expanded its audio product lineup in India with the launch of two new earbuds in India. The company has launched the Nothing Ear and Ear (a) true wireless earbuds in the country. The Nothing Ear is the successor of the Nothing Ear (2) and it features a new 11mm driver unit which promises to deliver an improved bass experience. Click here to know more.

Government mandates new rules for CCTV cameras: Here's what the order says
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken a strong step to improve CCTV security in government establishments. This comes after an internal advisory issued in March regarding potential cyberattacks and data tampering. Weak CCTV security can lead to unauthorised access, compromising privacy and potentially granting control of cameras to attackers. Click here to know more.

Toshiba is cutting around 5,000 jobs
Toshiba Corporation is reportedly planning to cut around 5,000 jobs in Japan.
According to a report in Nikkei, this represents roughly 10% of the company's domestic workforce. The job cuts are part of Toshiba's restructuring efforts to streamline operations and focus on core businesses like infrastructure and digital technology. The company will reportedly incur a one-time cost of 100 billion yen ($650 million) as a result. Click here to know more.