iWorld
YouTube Rewind: What India watched in 2015
MUMBAI: 2015 has been an exciting year on YouTube in India. One saw more and more people consuming content on digital platforms, with YouTube leading the pack. YouTube has garnered a huge fan following not only in terms of the audience but also amongst original content creators in India. While YouTubers like All India Bakchod (AIB) and The Viral Fever (TVF) rose to superstardom, an array of new players also joined in to professionally create videos for YouTube. Even big screen celebrities were seen more open to experimenting with artists online.
As per YouTube Rewind, the top trending YouTube video in India in 2015 was AIB: ‘Every Bollywood Party Song feat. Irrfan,’ followed by ‘Chhota Bheem – aur – Krishna Jodi No. #1.’
In spite of the huge surge in original digital content from YouTubers, it is mainstream media, which still commands YouTube viewership. As per the data, six out of 10 in the list of top most trending videos on YouTube belong to mainstream media, including television and film.
The data also sheds light on the fact that in 2015, comedy ruled in India. This is evident as five out of top 10 most viewed videos on YouTube were of the comedy genre.
Grabbing the first spot is the amusing comic music video by AIB: ‘Every Bollywood Party Song feat. Irrfan,’ which redefined comedy and gave the video a very refreshing twist. AIB’s ‘Honest Indian Weddings (Part 1),’ ‘PK movie Spoof,’ TVF’s ‘Barely Speaking with Arnub | Arvind Kejriwal’ are amongst the other top trending comedy videos, which were placed in the list of top 10.
2015 was also a good year for music with Honey Singh’s ‘Dheere Dheere Se Meri Zindagi video song (OFFICIAL),’ ‘Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan Video Song’ and ‘Badshah – DJ Waley Babu’ being the top most trending music video locally.
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.
