iWorld
Verizon in deal with Microsoft for video services
MUMBAI: Telecom companies in the US are gearing up to provide video services over high-speed data lines. And they are using Microsoft software technology to roll out more advanced interactive services.
Verizon Communications Inc. is the latest telecom player to sign up with Microsoft Corp. As per the deal, Verizon will use the Microsoft TV platform for the commercial rollout of Verizon’s FiOS TV service, planned for later this year.
The Microsoft TV platform will support high-definition television, digital video recording and on-demand programming offered by Verizon on the FiOS platform. In addition, it will provide FiOS TV customers with an interactive programming guide that is attractive, intuitive and easy to use.
Verizon and its third-party partners will use the Microsoft software to add advanced applications for future FiOS TV services, differentiating Verizon in the marketplace and bringing consumers the benefits of voice, video and data convergence.
“With FiOS TV, Verizon will be able to offer its customers more channels, more choices and great value,” says Verizon’s Retail Markets group president Bob Ingalls. “The Microsoft TV platform not only provides us with advanced digital TV capabilities that are designed to serve the millions of Verizon subscribers we ultimately expect will choose FiOS TV, but it gives us virtually unlimited potential to evolve our interactive services into the most seamlessly integrated offering in the industry.”
“Verizon’s FiOS and FiOS TV initiatives are examples of the innovative services and exciting new consumer experiences that forward-thinking service providers will be bringing to their customers starting this year,” offers corporate vice president of Microsoft TV division at Microsoft Moshe Lichtman. “This agreement with Verizon is another significant example that some of the world’s largest network operators are choosing Microsoft TV as the software platform for their digital TV and digital home services.”
FiOS TV will use the Microsoft TV software platform and Motorola hardware platform to provide an expanded channel lineup, high-definition programming and hundreds of video-on-demand titles. FiOS TV will not only offer customers advanced digital TV services, it will also enable Verizon to provide future video applications based on Internet Protocol (IP) technology, informs an official release.
The Microsoft TV platform will work in parallel with Verizon’s iobi(SM) service delivery platform, which allows information to be shared across many different networks, applications and devices.
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.
