Amazon tells employees ‘we plan to eliminate more than 18,000 roles’ during restructuring • TechCrunch

To get TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3pm PST; Register here.

Hello, I hope it’s been a great Thursday for you so far. For me, it’s the little things that make me happy and today is Delta Air Lines’ announcement that SkyMiles frequent flyers, including yours truly, will get free Wi-Fi starting February 1st. Also find something that makes you happy today. Let’s get into the news. – Christine

TechCrunch’s Top 3

• Yet more layoffs: Yesterday was Salesforce; Today it’s Amazon. Although these layoffs have been shadowed in recent months, today’s number of layoffs was surprising. I don’t think knowing will take away the anger of the staff. Paul It will take you inside.
• Secret secrets hurt someoneSecret secrets are no fun. Ask CircleCI customers who have been asked to turn over their passwords and private keys after a breach compromised the company’s systems. Carly Reports.
• Take a little of this appleYou all made a resolution to read more in 2023. Among Apple’s announcements today that got the most clicks was the company’s new AI-powered Book Narrative to find selected titles on Apple Books. Ivan Reports. If fitness is more of a goal of yours this year, Apple Fitness+ offers features like kickboxing workouts and sleep meditation; Aisha He wrote.

Startups and VCs

In what appears to be a downward trend, Natasha MHistory is very important to get feedback from former employees from startups to see how they handle things and how their next jobs will improve. She asked, “Where do tech workers go from here?” She asks the question. I won’t spoil it for you, but there seems to be a cycle.

Now here are four more:

• Next article may be from Fido.My dog ​​has trouble telling me when he needs to go outside, so I’m looking into the FluentPet talking button system that has programmable buttons that when pressed speak voice commands and send you messages. Sarah It has more.
• VR isn’t just for the young.Rendever, a big startup in the virtual reality space, gets Alcove from AARP, “VR comes of age.” Ingrid Reports.
• Neighbors don’t shake hands; Neighbors should hug!Okay, maybe not a hug, but if you live in an apartment complex and want to get to know other people nearby, you might want to check out my story about how OneRoof took some funding to help apartment dwellers stay close to their neighbors.
• Here’s to the optimists of the metaverseConversational AI startup MeetKai is expanding its offerings with new room-scanning technology and a focus on capturing objects and places by developer Metaverse. Kyle He wrote.

Teach yourself growth marketing: how to set up a landing page

In the first article in a five-part series on the fundamentals of growth marketing, Jonathan Martinez explains how to create an essential component of every startup’s sales pitch: landing.

This overview includes basic steps for writing clear headlines, providing social proof that builds credibility with visitors, and crafting calls to action that deliver results.

Next week, Martinez, who has helped startups like Uber, Postmates and Chime scale, will share his tips for launching a paid acquisition channel.

Three more from the TC+ team:

TechCrunch+ Our membership program helps founders and startup teams stay ahead of the pack. You can register here.. Use code “DC” for 15% off annual subscription!

Big Tech Inc.

If you can’t tell by your Twitter feed, CES is happening. Brian CES introduces and how to all for the rest of the conference. You can get juicy details. Kyle We’ve helped you compile a list of the best AI-powered products showcased at the conference.

It is one of the stories that caught our attention today. KyleHistory in the Ring Bringing Back the Peephole Cam. With Ring shutting down production in 2021, it seems obsolete. Now it’s restored to its full glory and can be yours for a starting price of $129.

Here are a few favorites from today’s CES stories:

Our team wrote 51 Big Tech stories today, so I’m giving you one more than the usual five.

• Back to the saddle againWho did Stitch Fix’s former CEO take the lead on their 2023 bingo card? no one? Connie He will fill in some details during his temporary return to Lake Katrina, which CNBC reports includes another round of layoffs, this time 20% of the company’s 1,700 employees.
• You must fight for your right to private communication to be respected: And WhatsApp is 100% behind you. Aisha The messaging giant also announced that it has launched global proxy support to allow users to maintain access even if their connection is blocked or disconnected.
• Art is in the AI-powered eye.: Kyle It reports on Picsart’s AI-powered SketchAI app, which turns images into digital art.
• And stream crown to…: Lauren About Roku He wrote a new chapter that will end in 2022 – more than 70 million active accounts. The streaming company is still saying it’s No. 1 in hours of streaming television in the US, Canada and Mexico.
• Another byte of crypto dust: Jacqueline The New York Attorney General has filed charges against former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky for defrauding crypto investors. The crypto lender filed for bankruptcy over the summer.
• Privacy Ping: as a Natasha L Notes, Apple received an unusual fine. France’s data protection watchdog has fined the consumer tech company $8.5 million for allegedly “not obtaining the consent of domestic mobile users before storing (and/or reading) data on their devices in violation of local data protection laws.”