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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a preliminary deal with software company SolarWinds and its chief information security officer to end litigation tied to a Russia-linked cyber attack. The SEC, SolarWinds and Timothy Brown successfully petitioned a federal judge on Wednesday to stay court proceedings while paperwork for a settlement was finalized.  The regulator had sued SolarWinds and Brown in connection with a two-year cyber attack known as Sunburst that targeted the Austin, Texas-based firm. A judge dismissed much of the regulator's case last year. The SEC had said that the defendants defrauded investors by concealing security weaknesses, but U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who approved the stay, opined that such claims were based on "hindsight and speculation."

 

Reuters

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Companies in the private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June, payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday, the first decline since March 2023, after a downwardly revised increase of 29,000 in May. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast an increase of 100,000 for the month. The majority of the losses came in professional and business services, with 56,000, followed by health and education with 52,000. Financial activity roles fell 14,000. However, payrolls for goods-producing roles rose 32,000. Large businesses – those with 500 or more employees – added 30,000 jobs in the month. Businesses with 50 to 499 employees lost 15,000 workers. Establishments with fewer than 50 employees lost 47,000 jobs. Annual pay for job-stayers decreased to 4.4% from 4.5% while annual pay for job changers fell to 6.8% from 7%.

 

CNBC

Fox News

Microsoft has announced a second wave of layoffs, impacting approximately 9,000 employees, or 4% of its workforce, as part of a cost-cutting strategy while investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The cuts will affect various teams globally, including sales and the Xbox division. The company aims to streamline processes and reduce management levels to enhance efficiency. Despite pledging $80bn in capital spending for fiscal year 2025, rising AI infrastructure costs are affecting profit margins. Other tech giants including Meta and Google have also announced job cuts to improve efficiency. Meanwhile, Microsoft has asked managers to evaluate employees based on how much they use AI, Business Insider reports. In an email to managers, Julia Liuson, president of the Microsoft division responsible for developer tools including AI coding service GitHub Copilot, wrote: "Just like collaboration, data-driven thinking and effective communication, using AI is no longer optional - it's core to every role and every level." She told managers that AI "should be part of your holistic reflections on an individual's performance and impact."

 

BBC News

Business Insider

Financial Times

The Times

Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril, is launching a new crypto-focused bank named Erebor, with backing from tech billionaire Joe Lonsdale, to address the gap left by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The bank aims to serve technology firms in sectors including artificial intelligence and crypto, and plans to operate as a digital-only institution headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, while also holding stablecoins on its balance sheet. Lonsdale expressed his support for the initiative, stating he is a "proud investor" in the project, which seeks to be a highly regulated entity in the stablecoin transaction space.

 

Reuters

Bumble chief executive Whitney Wolfe Herd has criticized staff for “freaking out” after announcing the online dating company would eliminate more than 160 roles in London, warning that drastic cost-cutting measures were needed as “dating apps are feeling like a thing of the past.” Wolfe Herd said the company's “center of gravity” would move to the U.S. where the “talent pool is right now.” She said that “London’s not the first choice, that’s the frank reality.”

 

Australian Financial Review

Financial Times

Silicon Valley start-up Lyten has announced its acquisition of Northvolt Dwa ESS, Europe's largest energy storage systems factory, following Northvolt's bankruptcy earlier this year. Lyten plans to restart operations at the Gdansk facility, which has a manufacturing capacity of up to 6 gigawatt-hours and the potential to expand to 10 GWh, to fulfil existing and new customer orders. The financial details of the transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, have not been disclosed, but Lyten's CEO emphasised the company's commitment to revitalizing the facility.

 

Reuters

The U.S. Senate has voted down a proposed 10-year ban on states regulating artificial intelligence models. Major AI companies, including Alphabet's Google and OpenAI, had expressed support for Congress taking AI regulation out of the hands of states to free innovation from a variety of local requirements. Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said: "we can't just run over good state consumer protection laws. States can fight robocalls, deepfakes and provide safe autonomous vehicle laws." Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: "We will now be able to protect our kids from the harms of completely unregulated AI."

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Russia has introduced a new type of investment account with withdrawal guarantees to attract foreign investors, as outlined in a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin. The initiative comes in response to the significant impact of international sanctions that have frozen Western investors' assets and hindered foreign investment in the Russian market. The new accounts will allow foreign investors to make investments in various forms, including roubles, foreign currency, stocks, and bonds, and there are plans to ease capital controls further.

 

Reuters

In response to the tragic crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 that resulted in 260 fatalities, Indian lawmakers are set to review safety protocols in the civil aviation sector. The meeting, scheduled for July 9, will involve airport operators, air traffic controllers, and airlines, including Air India and IndiGo. R K Chaudhary, a member of the panel, emphasized the importance of addressing safety concerns, saying: "If we will not raise questions on it, they (airlines) will not become vigilant about these issues." The Indian government is currently investigating the crash, with data from the flight recorder being analysed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau alongside the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Air India has recently faced warnings for compliance lapses, including violations related to pilot duty scheduling and overdue safety checks.

 

U.S. News

U.K. energy watchdog Ofgem has initiated an enforcement investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission following a report that linked a fire which caused the shutdown of Heathrow Airport to a preventable technical fault. The National Energy System Operator report revealed that an "elevated moisture reading" in oil samples at a substation was ignored, leading to a "catastrophic failure" of a transformer. Heathrow's internal power network was also found to be inadequately designed, contributing to the operational shutdown. The incident, in March, disrupted over 270,000 air passenger journeys and left 71,655 customers without power. 

 

The Times

The Guardian

Boeing has reinstated 58 union members from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) amid allegations of contract violations during layoffs. SPEEA claimed that Boeing retained non-union workers while laying off unionized employees in similar roles, in violation of a collective bargaining agreement. The layoffs, affecting about 2,600 employees, were part of a cost-cutting measure announced by CEO Kelly Ortberg. Rich Plunkett, SPEEA's director of strategic development, observed: “It appears finally something has shifted and there's at least an appetite to see if we can work together.”

 

The Columbian

The San Francisco Standard reports on how Bay Area companies are hiring etiquette coaches for their Gen Z employees as return-to-office policies have brought in the demographic for the first time, and in many cases after years of working and attending school remotely. Local etiquette coach Rosalinda Randall has said enquiries have risen 50% over the last two months, and "are a variation on the same complaint: Gen Z employees are treating the office like an extension of their homes." Jim Rettew, interim CEO at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, observes of Gen Z: “They’re great at challenging authority and the status quo, but sometimes I just want someone to buckle down and follow orders.”

 

San Francisco Standard