iWorld
Roposo founder launches CloseAPP to aid Covid relief
KOLKATA: Roposo founder Mayank Bhangadia has announced the launch of CloseAPP – a hyperlocal social app to help people across the country as they combat the devastating second wave of Covid-19. The new app will help people to connect with each other virtually and get medical help in real-time. The launch comes at a time when people are increasingly turning to social media to meet their medical emergencies.
CloseAPP users can seek help by posting their requirements on the app and learn about the availability of Plasma, Oxygen, ICU Beds, Vaccines, and Ventilators around their location. Bhangadia created this app with former colleague Harsha Chhabra, who led product development at Roposo and also founded GoParento. The team was supported by many Covid volunteers in the initiative.
“During my Covid crisis, I realised that current social networks aren’t as efficient in connecting help seekers with volunteers within one’s neighbourhood, nearby societies, or geo-location. Some posts get viral, but many times the useful resources get exhausted by the time they reach the masses. So, we felt there was a need to create an open, decentralised platform to help people connect hyper-locally with one another and get immediate help,” explained the Roposo founder, who is also building an active community of volunteers and alongside building a robust Technology Team.
India set another grim record on Wednesday, after losing as many as 4,529 lives during the last 24 hours. Over 2.67 lakh news cases were recorded across the country, according to the government.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
