iWorld
SonyLIV strengthens its live sports portfolio
KOLKATA: Mexican waves, boisterous applause and an edge of the seat adrenaline; the joy of witnessing live sports is unmatchable. This monsoon, SonyLIV augments its offerings with back to back sporting spectacles starting 8 July 2020. From international cricket to the best of football to the biggest basketball sensation and more, SonyLIV’s live sports portfolio is brimming with the best of tournaments for all sports aficionados in India.
The cricket season begins today. First up is a clash between England and West Indies, marking the return of International cricket with 3 consecutive Test series. Interim captain Ben Stokes will lead England against the visitors boasting off a bunch of power hitters captained by Jason Holder for the 33rd Time in Test Cricket. Quite interestingly, Jason Holder is also the World's no 1 Test all-rounder who will look to retain his position against Stokes who comes a close second. All three Test series will be streamed live at 3:30 PM on SonyLIV in India. This will be followed by England vs Ireland starting July 30.
Next up is the on-going battle of the heavyweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on and from 12 July in Abu Dhabi. The tournament will have a fresh set of fights with strong contenders like Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, Jose Aldo, Jessica Andrade, Paige Vanzant and others locking horns in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Also going live is WWE Extreme Rules 2020, the no holds barred sporting tournament. Touted as ‘The Horror Show’, this one will witness some power packed clashes and epic rivalries on and from 20 July. All matches will be live streamed on SonyLIV.
And then there’s the biggest highlighter of the month. The 2019-20 NBA Season begins on July 30 with 22 teams participating in the big battle. While there would be no live audience, SonyLIV users in India will be able to watch all the matches on the platform. This coveted league will continue till the finale in October 2020.
But that’s not all. Bringing the best of International football to screens, The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals will also resume as a straight knockout tournament on and from 7 August. Round of 16 2nd Leg matches will also be held preceding the main tournament leading up to the finale on August 24. Adding to this is The FA cup semi-finals on 19 July and the on-going Serie A.
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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.
