iWorld
Sony Liv bags Australian Open’s digital rights; to livestream for free
MUMBAI: Sony Liv has pocketed the exclusive digital rights to the Australian Open for its web and mobile platform. The tournament will be live streamed on Sony Liv for free.
It may be recalled that the satellite rights of the Australian Open vest with Sony Pictures Networks India and ESPN’s joint venture channel – Sony ESPN, which is all set to beam from 17 January.
From 18 – 31 January, the live matches will be available for viewing on the Sony Liv Android and iOS Mobile app as well as on www.sonyliv.com.
For those who miss the match, video on demand capturing key highlights and special moments of every match along with interviews and press conferences will be available on the very same day.
SPN India EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi said, “Sony Liv has established itself as the destination of choice for the Indian viewers looking for digital entertainment solutions on the go. As a category, sports are very significant for Sony Liv audiences and hence, we have been increasing our content portfolio to include major sporting events. The Australian Open will be live streamed on Sony Liv since we have the digital rights for the event for its mobile and web platforms.”
The Australian Open is one of the most eminent international tennis tournaments held annually over a fortnight in Melbourne, The year’s first Grand Slam will feature some of the biggest names from the international tennis circuit such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova, among others as well as Indian players Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman. Last season’s winners, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams will also return to the court to defend their respective titles this year.
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.
