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Workers stand outside the Google offices after walking out as part of a global protest over workplace issues, in London, England, on Nov. 1, 2018.

Toby Melville | Reuters

A group of Google contractors, some of whom have worked on Search and Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Bard, have successfully voted to unionize.

The group, from Google contractor Accenture, filed for unionization efforts in June after claiming Google asked them to help train the generative AI answers offered in Search and Bard, and that they felt underprepared for their work. The tasks included handling “obscene and graphic” content, according to Bloomberg reports.  

Following the filing for unionization, the group, which included 120 writers, graphic designers and coordinators, among others, were told more than half the team would be laid off, according to the Alphabet Workers Union, which alleged the layoffs were an act of retaliation.

The Alphabet Workers Union teamed up with the Communications Workers of America in 2021 as a minority union.

In June, the AWU-CA asked the U.S. National Labor Relations Board to recognize Alphabet as a “joint employer” to their contractor Accenture, meaning the search giant would be held liable for workers’ treatment. As a part of this week’s ruling, Regional Director of Region 20 – San Francisco found that the two organizations are joint employers, and both have the duty to bargain over terms and conditions of employment, according to an NLRB spokesperson.

Workers in the group voted for union representation 26-2 Monday night, the NLRB confirmed.

Google said it believes the NLRB’s decision to classify it as a joint employer with Accenture is incorrect, and it has appealed to reverse the decision. 

“We have no objection to these Accenture workers electing to form a union,” said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini in a statement to CNBC. “We’ve long had many contracts with unionized suppliers. However, as we made clear in our active appeal to the NLRB, we are not a joint employer as we simply do not control their employment terms or working conditions — this matter is between the workers and their employer, Accenture.”

Jen Hill,  a designer on Google’s support staff Google Help and member of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, called it a victory and said the group looks forward to meeting Google at the bargaining table.

“Today’s victory proves what’s possible: when workers stand together, even Google cannot stand in our way,” Hill said in a statement. “We organized so that we could have a say in our working conditions. In response, Google has tried to skirt its responsibility to us as our employer, while also laying off dozens of our team members. It is unjust that our jobs are being shipped off to workers who will be paid even less than us, and will have access to even fewer labor protections.”

The decision marks the second ruling to classify Google as a joint employer with its contractor for a subset of employees. In April, the NLRB announced that it found members of the YouTube Content Operations Team to be jointly employed by both Google and Cognizant Technology Solutions. Alphabet appealed the NLRB’s decision in that case as well.

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Jeff Bezos discloses plan to sell up to $4.8 billion in Amazon stock

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Jeff Bezos discloses plan to sell up to .8 billion in Amazon stock

Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, takes the stage during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, Dec. 4, 2024.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares in the company over the next year, according to a financial filing on Friday.

Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains Amazon’s top shareholder, is selling the shares as part of a trading plan adopted on March 4, the filing states. The stake would be worth about $4.8 billion at the current price.

The disclosure follows Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report late Thursday. While profit and revenue topped estimates, the company’s forecast for operating income in the current quarter came in below Wall Street’s expectations.

The results show that Amazon is bracing for uncertainty related to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs. The company landed in the crosshairs of the White House this week over a report that Amazon planned to show shoppers the cost of the tariffs. Trump personally called Bezos to complain, and Amazon clarified that no such change was coming.

Bezos previously offloaded about $13.5 billion worth of Amazon shares last year, marking his first sale of company stock since 2021.

Since handing over the Amazon CEO role to Andy Jassy, Bezos has spent more of his time on his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and his $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund. He’s used Amazon share sales to help fund Blue Origin, as well as the Day One Fund, which he launched in September 2018 to provide education in low-income communities and combat homelessness.

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Earnings show one tech segment starting to feel the tariff pinch fastest

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Earnings show one tech segment starting to feel the tariff pinch fastest

Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.

Shawn Thew | Afp | Getty Images

A tale of two different technology companies is playing out this earnings season as President Donald Trump‘s global trade upheaval makes planning nearly impossible.

Businesses reliant on advertising appear to be holding on for the near-term as those dependent on consumer spending have started to feel the cracks of a murky macro subjected to an ever-shifting tariff policy.

Block offered a lackluster second-quarter profit outlook in its earnings release Thursday, and said it took into account a “more cautious stance” into the end of the year. Airbnb issued disappointing guidance and said its business experienced some “softness” in travel from Canada to the U.S. toward the end of the quarter.

“In the U.S., we’ve seen relatively softer results, which we believe has been largely driven by broader economic uncertainties,” the vacation rentals company said in a letter to shareholders.

The fortress technology giants are also proving susceptible to Trump’s whims.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the company anticipates $900 million in added costs from tariffs this quarter, but said it’s “very difficult” to predict beyond that timeframe due to uncertainty.

He also said Apple is sourcing products shipped to the U.S. from India and Vietnam — where tariffs are lower.

“We do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin,” he said. “Vietnam will be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the U.S.”

Amazon‘s e-commerce business, which relies on many sellers that ship from China, is also beginning to feel the pressure. The company issued light guidance for the current quarter, and said “tariffs and trade policies” and “recessionary fears” were factors in its outlook.

Trump recently hiked the import duty on goods from China to 145%. Amazon is also grappling with the expiration of the de minimis loophole that previously allowed imports under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free.

Finance chief Brian Olsavsky said the company offered a wide guidance range due to tariff unpredictability.

But Amazon’s advertising business was a silver lining in the report, jumping 19% from last year. Other ad-heavy businesses also reported strong results in this macroeconomic setup, but warned of possibly tougher waters ahead.

Alphabet reported a year-over-year jump in ad revenue, but warned that the de minimis changes would “cause a slight headwind” to its ad business this year, particularly in Asia. Meta‘s ad revenues topped estimates, but finance chief Susan Li said some Asia e-commerce retailers have curbed ad spending. “

“A portion of that spend has been redirected to other markets, but overall spend for those advertisers is below the levels prior to April,” she said.

Worsening consumer sentiment isn’t just a tech problem. Airlines, restaurants and consumer retailers are also feeling the pinch.

Delta Airlines cut its growth plans for 2025 and trimmed its first-quarter guidance on weakening demand, while Chipotle Mexican Grill blamed a “slowdown consumer spending” as a reason for a decline in same-store sales.

U.S. consumers also appear less optimistic about the economy. Last month, the expectations index from the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey fell to its lowest level since October 2011.

Board officials said the reading is consistent with a recession.

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Uber inks robotaxi deal with Momenta to launch service in Europe next year

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Uber inks robotaxi deal with Momenta to launch service in Europe next year

A passenger walks near Uber signage after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on July 10, 2022.

David Swanson | Reuters

Uber said on Friday that it’s partnering with Chinese self-driving startup Momenta to launch robotaxi services outside of the U.S. and China.

The first deployment is scheduled to roll out in Europe in early 2026, with safety operators onboard. Uber said the goal is to combine its global ridesharing network with Momenta’s technology to deliver safe and efficient robotaxi services.

“This collaboration brings together Uber’s global ridesharing expertise and Momenta’s AI-first autonomous driving technology, paving the way for a future where more riders around the world experience the benefits of reliable and affordable autonomous mobility,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the press release.

Momenta CEO Xudong Cao said the arrangement “completes the key ecosystem needed to scale autonomous driving globally.”

Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

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Momenta, based in Beijing, is a leading autonomous driving company known for its “two-leg” product strategy. It offers both Mpilot, a mass-production-ready assisted driving system, and MSD (Momenta Self-Driving), aimed at full autonomy. The company has years of experience operating autonomous vehicles in cities across China and has partnerships with large equipment manufacturers.

Competition is heating up in the robotaxi market, and Uber is actively seeking deals to sustain a ride-hailing business as robots replace drivers. Uber has partnered with companies including Motional and Waymo in select U.S. cities. Motional hit pause on its robotaxi deployments with both Uber and Lyft last year. This marks Uber’s first major push to deploy AVs abroad in partnership with a Chinese startup.

Uber previously had its own self-driving car unit, but it sold the division in 2020 to Aurora Technologies, an Amazon-backed self-driving car firm. As part of that deal, Uber said it would invest $400 million into Aurora.

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