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Intel reportedly planning to cut 15-20% of factory workers next monthNews comes as Intel reveals YoY revenue is flat, QoQ revenue could dropLip-Bu Tan wants to streamline the workforceIntel plans to lay off around 15-20% of its factory workforce as it looks to increase revenues and deal with ever-changing market conditionsA report from OregonLive claims the cost-cutting effort, scheduled to begin as soon as mid-July 2025, will primarily affect Intel Foundry, one of its core business divisions."These are difficult actions but essential to meet our affordability challenges and current financial position of the company. It drives pain to every individual," manufacturing VP Naga Chandrasekaran reportedly shared in a memo with employees over the weekend.Intel set for even more layoffsThe news comes as Intel continues to struggle with its financial performance – revenue remained flat year-over-year during its first quarter of 2025, with predictions for second-quarter revenue suggesting a quarter-over-quarter dip.The company has already made significant reductions to its headcount, including terminating 15,000 contract in August 2024.It's believed that no voluntary buyouts will be offered this time, with Intel instead basing the layoffs on project priorities, performance and skill assessments. Factories relating to advanced chip development and workers in high-skilled roles could be among those less likely to be affected."We are taking a disciplined and prudent approach to support continued investment in our core products and foundry businesses while maximizing operational cost savings and capital efficiency," CFO David Zinsner explained in the company's first-quarter earnings release.Besides saving cash, Intel's approach to layoffs also centers around streamlining the workforce and removing inefficiencies by eliminating certain areas of middle management – something that new CEO Lip-Bu Tan pledged to do as he turns the company back into a profitable business.TechRadar Pro has contacted Intel to confirm its plans, but the company did not respond immediately.You might also likeNew Intel CEO says company will spin off non-Core units, tells customers to "be brutally honest with us"Worried about the news? Here are the best job sites and best recruitment platformsBoost your value by using the best online learning platforms to upskill

OpenAI has just launched an initiative called OpenAI For Government starting with a modest new contract. The company was awarded $200 million by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to develop "prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains," according to the DoD's website.

The contract is the DoD's first with OpenAI. It will last a year and take place largely in an area that includes Washington, DC and nearby counties in Maryland and Virginia. The company said its new program will provide federal, state and local governments access to its latest models through ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Gov, along with custom models for national security on a limited basis.

"This contract, with a $200 million ceiling, will bring OpenAI’s industry-leading expertise to help the Defense Department identify and prototype how frontier AI can transform its administrative operations, from improving how service members and their families get health care, to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense,” the company said.

Last last year, OpenAI announced that it was partnering with Palmer Lucky's defense startup Anduril Industries to develop AI for the Pentagon. The companies said they aimed to combine OpenAI’s models, including GPT-4o, with Anduril’s systems and software to improve the US military’s defenses against unpiloted aerial attacks. However, OpenAI and the DoD didn't reference Anduril or drone defense in their announcements today.

The contract opens up a new source of revenue for OpenAI. The company recently said that it will increase sales from around $10 billion currently all the way to $125 billion in just four years, without providing many details on how it plans to do that. Currently, OpenAI makes money from ChatGPT for consumers, along with business products and its application programming interface (API). It spends a lot more than it makes, having lost $5 billion in 2024 on around $4 billion in revenue.

In January, OpenAI announced the $500 billion Stargate program to develop additional computing power in the US. The company completed a $40 billion financing round that values it currently at over $300 billion. However, critics have argued that that despite burning enormous amounts of cash on cloud infrastructure, it still has no clear path to profitability. Relations are also reportedly tense with the company's close partner Microsoft at the moment. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-awarded-200-million-us-defense-contract-for-the-use-of-its-ai-models-120052807.html?src=rss

Tinder has officially launched a new feature that will help you find people to double date with a friend. The dating service says it's a "low-pressure, group-first" way to date, but really, it's a fantastic option if you prefer meeting someone new with a friend beside you, whether for your safety or your anxiety. To use the feature, you'll have to tap the Double Date icon and choose up to three friends to create a pair with. As TechCrunch notes, you'll then be able to scroll through other Double Date pairs who share at least one of your preferences, such as gender and sexual orientation.

A group chat is created with all four participants even if just one pair gets a match, though you can always swipe right on an individual in the group for a one-on-one chat. According to Tinder, the feature was a hit with users 29 and under when the service was tested. It was also more popular with women, who were apparently three times more likely to like a pair than an individual profile.

Perhaps more importantly for Tinder owner Match Group, the feature was able to get new users onboard and to convince old ones to come back to the service. Based on its tests, 15 percent of users who accepted a Double Date invite were either new to Tinder or had recently reactivated. In March, the company announced its plans to cut 13 percent of its workforce as a cost-cutting measure after a 5 percent decline in paying users in the first quarter of the year, which resulted in lower revenue and share prices. Double Date builds on the success of Tinder Matchmaker and Share My Date, which "turn dating into more of a team sport," the service's head of marketing, Cleo Long, told TechCrunch. It was designed with the understanding that most single people seek support from friends when dating.

At the moment, Double Date is only available in the US, Spain, as well as parts of Latin America and the Nordic region. Tinder is rolling it out to users around the world in July. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tinder-now-lets-you-find-double-dates-with-friends-123050143.html?src=rss

Microsoft 365 Local is an entirely on-prem solution for data sovereignty requirementsIt's built on Azure Local and Microsoft's private sovereign cloudRedmond wants to provide "digital stability" for all regionsMicrosoft has launched a new version of Microsoft 365 that runs entirely on-premises, designed for low-latency and high-security needs, running on Azure Local.The company detailed how the update enabled workloads to be deployed within data centers or sovereign cloud environments – a response to the growing desire for more controlled environments globally.By launching on-prem versions of M365, Redmond aims to improve security, compliance and governance, with a particular emphasis on European customers who need to comply with data sovereignty regulations.M365 can now run on-prem in sovereign environmentsAmong the key components of Redmond's sovereign cloud are a sovereign public cloud, a sovereign private cloud and national partner clouds.The public version is available across all European data center regions and ensures that data remains in Europe, under European law, and is controlled by European workers only. The product is in preview, but should be generally available later this year.Taking it one step further, the private cloud uses Azure Local as a foundation for on-prem and partner-operated environments. It's targeted at organizations that need operational autonomy and air-gapped systems.Finally, national partner clouds like France's Bleu and Germany's Delos Cloud are designed to further meet local sovereignty standard within the EU.Microsoft 365 Local only runs on Azure Local – the underpinnings for Microsoft's private sovereign cloud. "Microsoft 365 Local provides customers with additional choice by bringing together Microsoft’s productivity server software into an Azure Local environment that can run entirely in a customer’s own datacenter," the company explained.Speaking about current "geopolitical volatility" and Microsoft's desire to provide "digital stability," EVP and Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff added: "Microsoft is proud to offer the broadest set of sovereignty solutions available on the market today and we will constantly look for new ways to ensure our European customers have the options and assurances they need to operate with confidence."You might also likeWe've listed the best cloud hosting providersCut the costs by considering the best free office softwareAWS reveals European Sovereign Cloud to allay fears about US providers