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Google employees vented their frustration at the company’s two most senior officials during an all-hands meeting, citing a “significant decline in morale” over cost-cutting and lack of pay raises — despite the search giant’s robust earnings.

CEO Sundar Pichai and Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat were peppered with questions during last week’s gathering — just weeks after Google fired roughly 50 workers for staging sit-ins at its offices in New York and California over cloud contracts with Israel’s military.

Weve noticed a significant decline in morale, increased distrust and a disconnect between leadership and the workforce, a comment posted on an internal forum ahead of the meeting read.

How does leadership plan to address these concerns and regain the trust, morale and cohesion foundational to our companys success?

The top brass apparently avoided answering the question, using artificial intelligence to summarize employee comments and questions for the forum, according to CNBC.

The staffers’ biggest bone of contention revolved around the lack of pay bumps in light of the company’s strong quarterly performance.

Despite the companys stellar performance and record earnings, many Googlers have not received meaningful compensation increases a top-rated employee question said during last week’s gathering.

When will employee compensation fairly reflect the companys success and is there a conscious decision to keep wages lower due to a cooling employment market?

Porat, who is due to step down soon, took to the microphone and told employees: Our priority is to invest in growth.

Revenue should be growing faster than expenses,” she said.

Porat admitted that management erred in its handling of investments.

The problem is a couple of years ago two years ago, to be precise we actually got that upside down and expenses started growing faster than revenues, the CFO told workers.

The problem with that is its not sustainable.

Pichai chimed in, saying that the company made a mistake by over-hiring during the pandemic and that it was now in the midst of a course correction.

The CEO admitted that “leadership has a lot of responsibility here” and that “it’s an iterative process.”

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By the end of 2022, Alphabet’s global workforce numbered more than 190,000 people — or 22% higher from the year before and 40% higher than 2020. Last year, Google laid off more than 12,000 workers and cut back on office perks while mandating a return to office — a sign that the pandemic-era swoon was over.

Last month, the company fired 200 more workers, aside from the roughly 50 staffers involved in the protests, and shifted jobs abroad to Mexico and India.

The workers have also complained about tighter deadlines and fewer resources with which to get tasks done.

Given the recent headcount and positive earnings, what is the companys headcount strategy? one question read.

Pichai said Google is working through a long period of transition as a company that includes cutting expenses and driving efficiencies.

We want to do this forever,” Pichai said of becoming more efficient.

To be clear, were growing our expenses as a company this year, but were moderating our pace of growth Pichai said.

We see opportunities where we can re-allocate people and get things done.

The Post has sought comment from Google.

Two weeks ago, Google announced its first-ever dividend as well as a $70 billion stock buyback — sending the company’s share price surging by some 16%.

Google parent company Alphabet is returning capital to shareholders while spending billions of dollars on data centers to catch up with rivals on generative artificial intelligence.

Alphabet beat expectations for the quarter in sales, profit and advertising – metrics that are all closely watched.

Revenue was $80.54 billion for the quarter ended March 31, compared with estimates of $78.59 billion, according to LSEG data.

Meanwhile, Google Cloud revenue grew 28% in the first quarter, boosted by a boom in generative AI tools that rely on cloud services to deliver the technology to customers.

Alphabet’s capital expenditures were $12 billion, a 91% rise from a year prior, a figure Gabelli Funds portfolio manager Hanna Howard called “higher than anticipated.”

Porat said on the call with analysts that she expects such expenditures to be at that level or higher throughout the remainder of the year, as the company spends to build artificial intelligence offerings.

Despite the surge in capital expenditures, Porat said the operating margin in 2024 would be higher than last year, without elaborating.

Employees took note of Google’s massive investment in AI.

To many people, theres a clear disconnect between spending billions on stock buybacks and dividends and re-investing in AI and retraining critical Googlers, one Googler wrote on the internal message board.

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US

Donald Trump sending ‘top of the line’ weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

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Donald Trump sending 'top of the line' weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

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Donald Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

Later on Monday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump and said he was “grateful” for the US president’s “readiness to help protect our people’s lives”.

Analysis: Will Trump’s shift in tone make a difference?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Read Mark’s analysis here.

After criticising Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag it out”, he said he appreciated “preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine” – and added Kyiv is “working on major defence agreements with America”.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

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Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs’

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

Read more:
Trump announces 30% tariff on EU imports

Trump threatens to revoke US comedian’s citizenship
Two women killed after shooting at US church

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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

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US

Trump is clearly fed up with Putin – but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

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Trump is clearly fed up with Putin - but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion.

He has variously blamed Ukraine for the invasion and blamed Joe Biden for the invasion, but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself.

Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv.

Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist “America-First” base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar “deal” in which America gains financially.

American weapons are to be “sold” to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv.

“We’ve made a deal today,” the president said in the Oval Office. “We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful… these are wealthy nations.”

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What will Trump’s weapons deal mean for Ukraine?

This appears to be a clever framing of the “deal”. Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains.

While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance.

The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling.

However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying.

NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News.

It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions.

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Will Trump’s deal make a difference?

A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe.

Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons.

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The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs”. It’s thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil.

This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia.

But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly.

Read more:
BBC breached editorial guidelines over Gaza documentary
Air India plane suffered ‘no mechanical fault’ before crash

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‘Trump sides with the Ukrainian cause’

Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: “How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?”

“Don’t ask me questions like that…”

Mr Trump doesn’t really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride.

Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting.

If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win.

But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.

There’s the predicament.

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Technology

Nvidia says U.S. government will allow it to resume H20 AI chip sales to China

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Nvidia says U.S. government will allow it to resume H20 AI chip sales to China

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a roundtable discussion at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 11, 2025.

Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters

Nvidia announced Tuesday that it hopes to resume sales of its H20 general processing units to clients in China, saying that the U.S. government had assured the company would be granted licenses.

Nvidia’s sales of the H20 chips, which had been designed specifically to keep them out of export controls on China, were halted in April.

“The U.S. government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be granted, and NVIDIA hopes to start deliveries soon,” the company said in a statement.

This comes against the backdrop of a preliminary trade deal between Washington and Beijing last month that sought China to resume rare earth exports and the U.S. to relax tech export controls.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in recent months has ramped up his lobbying against export controls, arguing that they inhibited American tech leadership. In May, Huang said chip restrictions had already cut Nvidia’s China market share nearly in half.

Huang also announced a new “fully compliant” GPU, NVIDIA RTX PRO, saying it was ideal for smart factories and logistics.

The potential change in U.S. stance follows a meeting between Huang and U.S. President Donald Trump last week.

In his meeting with Trump and U.S. policymakers, Huang had reaffirmed Nvidia’s support for the administration’s job creation and onshoring efforts, as well as the aim for America to lead in global AI, the company said.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, it was confirmed that Huang has met with government and industry officials to discuss the benefits of AI and ways for researchers to advance safe and secure AI for the benefit of all. 

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