Hello and welcome to this newsletter. I’m Jordan Parker Erb, and you, dear reader, are about to get a heaped serving of news: From Google’s hiring slowdown, to Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk, to Amazon Prime Day’s ongoing deals — it’s a big day in tech.
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Now, without further ado…
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters
1. Google is pulling back on hiring. Two senior employees told Insider that while the company was still hiring for roles, it would be slowing down hiring across some of its divisions for the third quarter of 2022.
- Managers were informed of the hiring slowdowns last month. One person familiar with the plans said company leadership directed some managers to give back a percentage of their headcount grants for the third quarter.
- The move is not a hiring freeze, one person said, but is likely to slow progress across some projects.
- After Insider reported on the growth slowdown, CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to employees confirming the hiring cuts, saying: “Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days.”
Read our exclusive report and Pichai’s full email here.
In other news:
The James Webb Space Telescope’s first deep field infrared image, released July 11, 2022.
NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
2. NASA’s first full-color image from the James Webb Space Telescope reveals 13 billion years of galaxies. It’s the highest-resolution infrared image ever captured — and side-by-side photos show how much more powerful the telescope is than Hubble. Get a look at the spectacular photo.
3. Meta is facing a reckoning. For the first time ever, advertisers are slashing spending and abandoning the platform — and it’s bringing Facebook-parent Meta down to Earth after years of explosive growth. Inside the problem Meta may not recover from.
4. Twitter sued Elon Musk. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, lawyers for Twitter accused Musk of “refusing to honor his obligations” after he backed out of his $44 billion agreement to buy the company. The lawsuit is full of fiery accusations against Musk — here are the six best lines from the complaint. Meanwhile, Musk appeared to respond to the latest development with a short tweet.
5. Lush quit Instagram and Facebook — and is instead using five alternative marketing strategies. To advocate for mental health, the $943 million cosmetics brand dropped the apps, along with Snap and TikTok, and has turned to its podcast and app to bring in customers. See how else it’s connecting with consumers.
6. Apple ended its consulting agreement with its former chief designer Jony Ive. As per the New York Times, Ive – the famed designer who gave the world candy-colored computers – will no longer be working with Apple, despite Ive previously saying he looked forward to working with the company “for many years to come.”
7. Struggling EV startup Canoo just inked a major deal with Walmart. Walmart agreed to buy at least 4,500 of Canoo’s electric delivery vehicles. And while the deal could provide a much-needed lifeline for Canoo, experts and insiders aren’t sure the startup has enough cash on hand to fill the order.
8. Medium founder and CEO Evan Williams is stepping down. Williams, the tech entrepreneur who co-founded Twitter, will be replaced by Tony Stubblebine. As per TechCrunch, skeptics have long wondered if the platform can survive without the founder at the helm, but Williams insists: “Medium’s story is far from over.”
Odds and ends:
The 2022 BMW 3 Series sedan.
BMW
9. Your next monthly subscription could be heated seats. In some countries, BMW is charging an $18-per-month fee for heated seats — and owners who don’t pay up won’t get access. Here’s where the subscription fees are in effect.
10. We outlined the hybrid cars with the best mileage. With gas prices hovering near $5 per gallon, many Americans are looking into more efficient cars — so we listed the ones with the best gas mileage ratings, from the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid to the Hyundai Ioniq. These 15 models have the best mileage.
What we’re watching today:
- A supermoon will be visible tonight. It’s one of two supermoons appearing in 2022.
- Delta and others are reporting earnings. Keep up with earnings here.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.
