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Meta Reportedly In Talks For Massive $10B Investment In Scale AI, Marking Its Biggest AI Bet Yet

Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly in negotiations to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, a rapidly emerging player in the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, known for its data labeling services and model training, according to Bloomberg. If completed, the multi-billion-dollar deal would rank among the largest funding rounds ever for a private company and would be Meta’s largest external AI investment to date, the outlet reports. The move reflects Meta’s growing ambition to control the AI market, where tech giants are competing for the best language models to develop and implement across platforms and products. What Does Scale AI Do? Under the direction of CEO Alexandr Wang, Scale AI provides high-quality labeled data essential for training advanced AI models for major players, including Microsoft and OpenAI. In 2024, the company brought in roughly $870 million in revenue and is on track to more than double that to $2 billion in 2025, Bloomberg previously reported. Much of...

Jun 9, 2025

How Amazon Leaders Nikki Taylor White And Obi Nwigwe Are Contributing To The Company's Workplace Safety

Through their roles, Nikki Taylor White And Obi Nwigwe are improving workplace safety at Amazon. Nikki Taylor White Both share a common mission to bridge the gap in technology and lead by example, with Amazon serving as their home base to pursue this work. White, a Howard University graduate, is the global director of ergonomics within Amazon’s worldwide corporate health and safety organization. Her goals center on improving workplace safety and design on a global scale. “It’s my priority to ensure we follow the hierarchy of controls across the ergonomics spectrum, which starts with eliminating any existing or potential hazards, and we do this by implementing automation and robotics into our processes and workspaces to create safer environments for our employees,” White told AFROTECH™. Obi Nwigwe As for Nwigwe, he serves as a software development manager for Amazon Robotics. He began building smaller-scale systems while pursuing an electrical engineering degree at The University of...

May 22, 2025

Op-Ed: Donald Trump’s First 100 Days Sent The Tech Industry Into Survival Mode

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The culture and energy of the tech industry has changed overnight. The industry once stereotyped as a bastion of liberalism, which has a history of backing more liberal candidates in presidential elections, has changed. This all became more apparent during the 2024 presidential election between Kamala Harris and now President Donald Trump . During the election, the industry was split in a way that felt unprecedented to those who had been in the industry for the past 20 years. When Trump was first elected to office, his presidency appeared to be one that the industry would resist, given his first term as president as well as his 2020 campaign. He had policy views and beliefs that were against what the tech industry stood for, specifically around the topics of immigration, social media moderation, and climate change. What we saw leading up to the 2024 presidential election was not only less...

May 22, 2025

Op-Ed: Here's Why I Believe Woke AI Is A Good Thing

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade has now come for artificial intelligence (AI). Over the past several months, tech companies have retracted their previous commitments to DEI to comply with Trump’s executive order. Now, according to AP, both the administration and the Republican majority of Congress claim that AI is woke. “Wokeness,” or “woke,” is a term derived from African American Vernacular English to refer to being aware of social and racial injustice. It was a positive thing seen as early as the 1930s, or with people asking someone to “stay woke” from the 1970s well into the 2010s. That is until conservatives turned the word into a negative. Now, wokeness is seen as a negative thing, but only because they don’t want the public to be aware of the injustices they are committing currently. Artificial intelligence can’t be woke — it’s a thing that only operates in a way that it is...

May 15, 2025

Stock Markets Experience Worst Day Since 2020 As China Imposes 34% Tariff On US Goods In Retaliation For Trump's Tariffs

Friday, April 4, 2025, marked the second consecutive day major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply, a downtrend that follows President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs announcement and China’s Friday morning declaration to impose a 34% duty on U.S. goods in retaliation. According to NBC News, significant market losses included Tesla , Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, which fell by approximately 10%; agricultural equipment leader Caterpillar, down about 6%; and top AI chip manufacturer Nvidia, which declined by approximately 7%. The S&P 500 index, which tracks 500 leading U.S. companies, dropped more than 4%, down more than 16% from its peak. The Russell 2000 index, which follows stocks of smaller U.S. companies, plummeted by 5.3%. Global markets also experienced significant sell-offs, with European stocks declining 10% from recent highs and Asian markets facing sharp drops. After the market had closed on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, Trump announced from the White House’s Rose Garden that...

Apr 4, 2025

DOGE Checks Explained: The Government's Role And Your Eligibility

In a political landscape where economic promises often shift with the news cycle, one topic has managed to grab headlines and public curiosity alike: DOGE checks. Tied to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — an initiative linked to Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s administration — the proposed stimulus would direct billions in alleged government savings back to American taxpayers. But is this an actual policy shift or a high-profile thought experiment? Here’s what we know. What Are DOGE Checks? DOGE checks are a proposed stimulus payout drawn from cost-cutting measures implemented by DOGE. Since its launch in January, DOGE claims to have saved the federal government $130 billion by downsizing federal agencies and eliminating redundancies. According to Newsweek, the Trump administration has set a $2 trillion savings goal, with the potential for Americans to receive direct financial benefits from these efforts. The term “DOGE checks” gained traction following a...

Apr 2, 2025

As The Deadline For TikTok's Ban Approaches, Amazon Reportedly Places A Bid To Buy The App

Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, has placed a bid to acquire TikTok. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the app owned by ByteDance is facing a ban in the United States due to its association with China — although TikTok states it is not tied to the Chinese government. The app will only avoid a ban if it is sold to a company based in the United States. At the time of this writing, ByteDance has shown no interest in selling TikTok, which reaches over 170 million users in the United States, despite the ban’s looming deadline of April 5. The target date was extended by 75 days after Donald Trump signed an executive order upon assuming office on Jan. 20. “We have been fighting to protect the constitutional right of free speech for the more than 170,000,000 Americans who use our platform every day to connect, create, discover, and achieve their dreams,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said on the platform. “On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I wanna thank President...

Apr 2, 2025

Tesla Q1 Deliveries Miss Estimates, Marking The Biggest Decline In History For The Elon Musk-Led Company

Tesla’s delivery numbers are in. Elon Musk, founder of the electric vehicle and clean energy company, has faced significant setbacks, partly due to his decision to align with President Donald Trump. Musk is working at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), therefore he has access to the sensitive information of American citizens, CBS News reports. Additionally, staffers involved with DOGE — along with employees from Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX — are part of an effort to shut down federal agencies with the goal of decreasing government spending, NPR notes. So far, DOGE has also ended 109 contracts, including those the Department of Energy and Department of Commerce had, with a “ceiling value” exceeding $1 billion, which led to $420 million in savings, Newsweek mentions. DOGE’s efforts have been met with great opposition, which has also impacted Tesla. A survey conducted by NBC news states that while 46% of voters say creating DOGE was a good idea, 47% have a negative...

Apr 2, 2025

Google To Pay $28M After Settling Lawsuit Stating It Favored White And Asian Workers For Promotions And Raises

A lawsuit stating Google favored white and Asian workers has been settled. According to CNN, Ana Cantu, a former Google employee who identifies as Mexican and racially Indigenous, brought forward a lawsuit that claimed the tech giant offered lower salaries and job levels to those of Hispanic, Latino, Native American, Indigenous, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Alaska Native employees at Google. It was filed in 2021. In the lawsuit, Cantu said that during her seven-year tenure working in Google’s people operations and cloud departments, she was not given a promotion or salary increase. She alleged that white and Asian workers with the same work performance were promoted and received raises, while other workers who complained about the treatment had these opportunities withheld. Cantu left the company in September 2021, claiming Google did not adhere to the California Equal Pay Act. Additionally, leaked documents showed about 6,632 diverse employees reported...

Mar 19, 2025

Google Says It Will Still Hire Top Candidates For Roles After Scaling Back DEI Commitments

Google is doubling down on its move away from DEI goals. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, a shift away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have been occurring across the nation. This has been seen in the venture capital space, with funding for Black-owned businesses being challenged in court. At the federal level, when he took office President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle DEI-related “mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities” in the federal government, Business Insider notes. These changes, combined with political and legal pressures, have driven major companies to rethink their DEI initiatives. Some big tech companies, such as Meta, Amazon, and Google, have retracted their DEI commitments. “We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year, we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there,” a Google spokesperson told Business Insider in...

Mar 10, 2025

Verizon Receives Pushback From FCC For Upholding DEI Commitments

Verizon is receiving pushback for upholding its DEI commitments. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, pressures from conservative groups and efforts by President Donald Trump’s White House to dismantle DEI-related policies and programs have led major companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Google to follow suit. “We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year, we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there,” a Google spokesperson told Business Insider in February. Not all companies are shifting gears. In fact, Apple’s shareholders voted against a proposal that would dismiss its diversity and inclusion program in February 2025. Additionally, Verizon is maintaining its DEI stance and sees it as a vehicle for success. “Verizon is committed to fostering an inclusive environment. We care about diversity in both our employees and our suppliers. Diversity and inclusion is how we achieve success,” a...

Mar 7, 2025

TikTok Has Been ‘Publicly Silent’ As US Companies Bid On The App, So Does It Intend To Sell?

TikTok still doesn’t appear interested in selling its app. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the app was temporarily banned in the U.S. due to a mandate requiring TikTok — owned by China-based company ByteDance — to sell to a U.S.-based company. The ban, established by former President Joe Biden, was initially set to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025, but TikTok went offline 12 hours early after the Supreme Court moved to uphold the ban, Forbes reports. President Donald Trump announced at the time he intended to save the app once he assumed office. Users received a message on the app from TikTok that read, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Donald Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” Following his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day...

Mar 7, 2025

Salesforce Retracts DEI Language From Annual Report

Salesforce is retracting its DEI goals. Business Insider reports that the major software company removed references to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals in its annual financial report. Regarding hiring, the company says it will now uphold equality as its core value. “While we are not specifying representation goals, we remain committed to our core value of equality,” a Salesforce spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg. This sentiment was also echoed in the filing, which read, “We value the equality of every individual at our company and in our communities and are dedicated to fostering a workplace that complies with these protections, creating an inclusive culture where every individual feels seen, heard and valued.” Salesforce joins a growing list of companies that have all followed a common pattern in recent months. Google, Amazon, and Meta are other technology-driven companies that are shifting their focus away from DEI. In retail, Walmart, Aldi, and Target have done...

Mar 6, 2025

Apple To Invest Over $500 Billion In American Tech Economy, Even As CEO Tim Cook Fights For DEI Initiatives

Those who have been following along with corporate news in recent weeks may already be aware of president Donald Trump’s ongoing initiative to bring massive financial changes to the tech industry. The head of state and 34-time convicted felon previously announced multi-billion dollar deals with fintech giants including OpenAI, SoftBank and more. The collaboration, which has been titled Stargate , has drawn eyes from a number of tech industry heads, including Apple’s Tim Cook . Now, according to recent reports, Cook himself has announced an effort to invest $500 billion back into the United States economy, with specific plans to hire 20,000 new U.S. based employees over the next five years. Though Apple has always been at the forefront of American engineering and design, this announcement has come as quite a shock to some investors, considering Tim Cook’s outspoken stance on upholding DEI initiatives , in stark contrast to Trump’s demands. Clearly, Cook is able to compartmentalize...

Feb 28, 2025

Op-Ed: Laying Off 'Low Performers' Hurts Everyone

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Significant layoffs have been a consistent theme throughout the world of work for over three years. Whether you work in tech, media, or finance you have seen the news or know of those who have been impacted. Gone is the employment heyday of the pandemic, when firms across the board ramped up their hiring efforts in 2020 and 2021. This led to people embracing new opportunities and getting bumps in compensation that were not previously available. Unfortunately, when the boosts to businesses and balance sheets went away, firms started laying off their workforces in droves. Initially, the reasons behind the cuts were due to overhiring, and companies were looking to streamline their workforces and management in order to move the organizations more nimbly. The media started to refer to it as a “White-Collar Recession” because while other sectors like hospitality and health services saw employment...

Feb 14, 2025

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