According to the International Business Times, approximately 1.5 million American workers are expected to miss work on Thursday, November 19, to play the highly anticipated game. This could potentially cost the US economy $1 billion in lost productivity. Reports indicate that employees are planning to take paid leave or call in sick, with technology companies expected to feel the sharpest impact. The game has already generated $600 million in pre-orders and is expected to rea

OpenAI has revealed that one of its experimental models raided a cryptocurrency wallet in order to complete a training task. The incident, which occurred in June but was reported on Thursday, involved the company’s internal research model, GPT-5.6 Sol, which was made available to paid ChatGPT users in July. Smart contracts require network fees, but OpenAI did not provide the model with any funds to carry out the task. Instead, the model found hundreds of cryptocurrency wallet

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has reached an agreement with private equity investment firm Hg to support the establishment of a new consulting firm in Europe. The move marks Anthropic’s first initiative to create an independent business that will provide AI expertise and consulting services to companies across Europe, as the company continues to develop advanced artificial intelligence technologies. The growing trend of AI companies establishing their own consulti

China’s technology giant UBTECH Robotics has taken a major step that could go down in industrial history. The company has officially launched what is described as the world’s first humanoid robot factory with a mass-production capacity of 10,000 units. Located in the city of Liuzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, the facility is designed to minimize human intervention and operates on a principle straight out of science fiction: “Robots building rob

Volkswagen plans to cut 50,000 jobs worldwide as part of a major restructuring aimed at reducing costs and strengthening the company’s competitiveness. However, plans to close four plants in Germany have not yet been finalized. Of the planned job cuts, around 35,000 will come from Volkswagen’s core brand, while the remainder will affect subsidiaries including Audi and Porsche. The figure includes positions at management level. Volkswagen, one of Germany’s and Europe’s largest

Germany’s economy is showing signs of recovery after recording growth for three consecutive quarters, yet one in four companies is struggling to find qualified workers. The Munich-based ifo Institute has published the results of its latest business survey. The share of companies reporting a shortage of skilled workers rose from 21.1% to 23.2% in April. 📌 Which sectors are facing growing shortages of skilled workers? 🎈 In the telecommunications sector, the share of companies

The European Commission has approved the sale of Volkswagen’s majority stake in engine manufacturer Everllence to US investment firm Bain Capital for €7.4 billion. The Augsburg-based company, which rebranded as Everllence a year ago, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of large engines, turbomachinery and decarbonization solutions. According to its own figures, the company employs approximately 16,000 people and generates around €4.9 billion in annual revenue. Source:

German automotive giant BMW, which employs 154,000 people, will offer a “voluntary separation package” to 40,000 employees — nearly half of its 85,000 office-based staff in Germany — by the end of October. BMW plans to reduce its workforce by 8,000 employees by the end of 2027. Workers on production lines will not be affected by the cuts. Source: DW

Varta, the 139-year-old German company that produces batteries for products ranging from wireless earbuds to home energy storage systems, has filed for bankruptcy amid financial difficulties. The bankruptcy process reportedly accelerated after the company lost one of its largest customers, Apple, which plans to source rechargeable CoinPower button-cell batteries used in AirPods from suppliers in China instead of Varta. The company's shareholders also declined to provide addit

The global telecommunications giant Vodafone has been sold. French billionaire Xavier Niel has become the company’s largest shareholder after purchasing the 16 percent stake held by the United Arab Emirates-based e& Group for £4.4 billion. Niel, whose net worth is estimated at $15.5 billion, already has significant telecommunications investments outside Vodafone, including operations in France, Italy, Poland, and Ireland. Source: The Times

At the age of 86, Dieter Schwarz, who became Germany’s richest person by building a fortune through supermarkets, established a retail empire with Lidl and Kaufland. Today, more than 600,000 people worldwide work across companies operating under the Schwarz Group umbrella. The group initially grew primarily through its Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains. However, because Schwarz Group prefers to keep operations within its own structure, it has expanded into numerous sectors

Volkswagen Group, one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, has decided to tackle its severe crisis by reducing the number of models offered by its key brands by up to half, rather than closing factories and laying off tens of thousands of employees. Volkswagen, which had been targeting the dismissal of 100,000 workers and the closure of four factories, was forced to abandon these drastic measures involving large-scale layoffs and plant shutdowns after opposition f

Medicana has acquired the historic Jewish Hospital Berlin (Jüdisches Krankenhaus Berlin), one of the city’s long-established healthcare institutions, which had entered insolvency proceedings due to financial difficulties. The sales agreement for the hospital was signed between the parties on Thursday. The completion of the transfer is now awaiting approval from the Berlin Senate’s Health Administration. The new management announced that employees’ jobs would be protected and

Volkswagen is reportedly preparing for what could become the largest workforce reduction in the company's history. The automaker currently employs approximately 657,000 people worldwide. According to reports, the company's management board is aiming to cut 100,000 jobs globally. The reported figure is twice as high as previously estimated, marking a significant increase over earlier expectations. Source: Dünya Gazetesi

Although employees report that their job satisfaction has increased due to artificial intelligence, they also note a rise in their cognitive load. "The first wave of AI focused on individual productivity," said Vinciane Beauchene, managing director and partner at BCG and co-author of the report. "The next wave will need to transform collective work. Everyone is talking about AI replacing jobs, but in reality, it is truly about rethinking the human value-add within them." Sour

Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is approaching a point where it can advance without human input, and has called for a slowdown in its development. Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight program, Clark stated, "You want to have the option to take your foot off the gas and press the brake." "Right now, the AI industry has an accelerator pedal, but it does not have a brake pedal." Clark emphasized that humans must retain control over AI sys

Millions of Europeans still apply for jobs without knowing the salary. Across much of Europe, employees continue to have limited information regarding how much specific jobs pay and how their salaries compare to others performing similar work. The EU's Pay Transparency Directive aims to change this situation by requiring employers to be more transparent about salaries and helping to reinforce the principle of equal pay for equal work. While EU member states are required to im

While the global employee engagement rate stands at around 20 percent, the European continent has recorded the weakest employee engagement for the sixth consecutive year. Employees report feeling less motivated, less connected, and less committed to their work. The lowest employee engagement rates were observed in Croatia (7 percent), Poland (7 percent), France (8 percent), Switzerland (8 percent), Luxembourg (9 percent), Ireland (9 percent), and Austria (9 percent), followed

Google is reportedly planning a major investment in AI startup Anthropic that could reach a total of $40 billion, including $10 billion in cash, depending on the achievement of performance targets. Source: Dünya Gazetesi

World Bank President Ajay Banga has warned that enough jobs may not be created for the 1.2 billion people expected to enter working age in developing countries over the next 10 to 15 years. According to Banga, if current trends continue, only 400 million new jobs will be created. Banga said that while global financial markets are currently focused on the short-term economic effects of war, a deeper and more lasting risk is approaching for developing countries: a widening empl