Google boss: “We shouldn’t always equate fun with money”

Sundar Pichai reportedly sounded angry during a staff meeting. Also: Tiktok introduces a dislike button and Elon Musk wants to help the people of Iran.

Good morning! Even during the weekend, work in the digital scene continued in many places.

The top topics:

during a staff meeting Google there was a heated discussion last week, as reported by the US broadcaster CNBC. Employees are said to have asked Alphabet and Google boss Sundar Pichai how he would like to reduce costs and increase productivity. Pichai recently said that he wanted to make Google 20 percent more efficient and that there could be layoffs. Pichai responded to the questions by noting the macroeconomic challenges facing Google and other tech companies.

Pichai reportedly sounded a bit upset during the meeting. When asked, he replied, “I remember when Google was small and shabby,” adding, “We shouldn’t always equate fun with money.” When one employee spoke of “aggressive cost-cutting,” management said, that Google is still planning long-term investments in areas like quantum computing and will continue to pay its employees “at the high end of the market.” [Mehr bei CNBC]

on Founder scene: A speed limit reduces CO₂ emissions and the number of accidents. It is difficult to understand why Germany continues to do without it, says our columnist Don Dahlmann. In his eyes, the opponents behave like US gun buffs. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

And here are the other headlines of the night and the past few days:

Tiktok introduces a dislike button for user comments. The short-form video app, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance is located, tested the function for the first time in the spring. The company announced that this allows them to better identify irrelevant or inappropriate comments. The total number of “dislike” votes will not be displayed publicly, it said. Already last year, the competitor Youtube introduced a similar feature. [Mehr bei The Verge und The Information]

Tesla-boss and SpaceX-CEO Elon Musk now wants to help the people of Iran after his assignment in Ukraine. This is how the Starlink satellite broadband service is to be activated for the Iranians, as Musk announced on Twitter. The US authorities also said that despite the existing sanctions against the country, they wanted to expand Internet access for the population. Iran has been swept by a wave of protests for days after a young woman arrested by vice squads for violating headscarf rules died in custody. The Iranian government has since blocked access to the Internet. [Mehr bei Reuters und Handelsblatt]

Celsius apparently wants to compensate its customers. Funds have been in limbo since the insolvent crypto lender froze withdrawals from its accounts in June. Now a sound recording leaked to the US broadcaster CNBC revealed that there is an unusual plan: The company wants to issue an “IOU” cryptocurrency. In this way, the damage caused should be compensated. [Mehr bei CNBC]

Investments: Hadean, a spatial computing startup, has closed a $30 million Series A funding round. The British firm, which is developing infrastructure for the burgeoning metaverse, is backed by a high-profile group of investors including Epic Games and Tencent. [Mehr bei Techcrunch]

Fanuc According to a report by the “Handelsblatt” wants to expand in Europe and in this way the world market leadership against the competition Cry and ABB defend. The Japanese robot manufacturer, which produces exclusively in Japan, develops industrial robots that are used primarily in the automotive and electronics industries and can, for example, perform high-precision welding work. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt]

Our reading tip on Gründerszene: The oat milk startup Milk of the soccer player Kevin Trapp want it with heavyweights like Oatly and alpro record, tape. Can that work? [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

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Have a good start into the week!

Your Gründerszene editors