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Microsoft is planning to get rid of more US employees via its first voluntary buyout program, CNBC reports . The buyout program will reportedly be offered to US employees at "the senior director level and below whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or higher," and could cover up to 7 percent of the company's US workforce. With around 125,000 employees in the US as of June 2025 , that could mean up to 8,750 will be offered a paid exit when Microsoft begins its program in May. That's a smaller figure than the 15,000 or so employees the company laid off in May and July of 2025, but still significant, particularly if the majority of employees do take the buyout. "Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support," Microsoft's executive vice president and chief people officer Amy Coleman shared in a memo viewed by CNBC . Engadget has contacted Microsoft to confirm the existence of the voluntary buyout program and other details CNBC reported. We'll update this article if we hear back. Microsoft used its 2025 layoffs to streamline layers of management and its video game business, but these new cuts may have a lot more to do with AI. Not necessarily because the company's adoption of AI tools has made employees redundant, but rather because Microsoft continues to aggressively spend on AI infrastructure. The company said it spent $37.5 billion in capital expenditures during Q2 2026, much of which went toward data center buildout. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/microsoft-is-reportedly-offering-voluntary-buyouts-to-up-to-7-percent-of-its-employees-200050484.html?src=rss
United States soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been arrested and charged for placing bets on prediction marketplace Polymarket using classified information he had access to related to the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro . The US Army Special Forces master sergeant, who was directly involved with the planning and execution of the operation, allegedly made $409,881 in profits. According to the Department of Justice, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account around December 26, 2025 and made 13 bets related to Maduro from December 27 to January 2. He took the “Yes” position on several Polymarket wagers, including “US Forces in Venezuela… by January 31, 2026,” “Maduro out by… January 31, 2026, “Will the US invade Venezuela by January 31” and “Trump invokes War Powers against Venezuela by… January 31.” The US military captured Maduro and his wife on January 3. Van Dyke allegedly bet a total of $33,034 and made over ten times that amount from his winnings. He withdrew his money from Polymarket on the day Maduro was captured and then sent it to a foreign crypto vault before depositing it to a new online brokerage account. Shortly after Maduro’s capture, reports came out about how an anonymous gambler made almost half a million dollars before it was announced, raising concerns that someone had profited off insider military knowledge. The Justice Department says Van Dyke tried to cover his tracks. After reports about the potential insider bets were published, he allegedly asked Polymarket to delete his account, falsely claiming that he lost access to the email he used. He also changed the email address linked to his crypto account to another one not associated with his name. Van Dyke has been charged with three counts of violation against the Commodity Exchange Act, with each one carrying a max sentence of 10 years in prison. He has also been charged with one count of wire fraud with a max penalty of 20 years in prison, as well as one count of unlawful monetary transaction with a max sentence of 10 years. Prediction marketplaces have been struggling with insider trading problems, and this is far from the first incident. Recently, Kalshi took action against three political candidates, accusing them of insider trading related to their campaigns. Matt Klein of Minnesota and Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas face a fine of less than $1,000 and suspensions of up to five years. Meanwhile Mark Moran of Virginia faces disciplinary action, a five year suspension and a fine of more than $6,000. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/us-soldier-arrested-for-allegedly-making-over-400000-on-polymarket-with-classified-maduro-information-014531367.html?src=rss
Anthropic is expanding its directory of connected services for its Claude AI chatbot. The platform can now link up with your accounts on AllTrails, Audible, Booking.com, Instacart, Intuit Credit Karma, Intuit TurboTax, Resy, Spotify, StubHub, Taskrabbit, Thumbtack, TripAdvisor, Uber, Uber Eats and Viator. Additional services will be added in the future. More and more AI companies are trying to up their third-party integrations in a pitch to make their services as useful as possible. The benefit of having multiple apps connected means that a chatbot can theoretically execute more complicated tasks on your behalf. This expansion takes that capability from the professional and educational settings, where Anthropic’s connectors have been focused for the past year, to a personal one. So, for instance, Claude can now help plan a hike on AllTrails and then pull up a Spotify playlist that will last for the duration of your trek. Anthropic noted that it is also reframing how apps are showing up so that an appropriate service is suggested for the task you want to perform. The apps should appear dynamically within the Claude conversation rather than needing a user to swipe between programs. As with most AI actions, Claude is supposed to check with its user before actually taking any actions like securing a reservation or making a purchase. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-connect-to-lifestyle-apps-like-spotify-instacart-and-alltrails-225510552.html?src=rss
Meta is making another steep cut to its staff, this time to the tune of a 10 percent reduction in its workforce. About 8,000 people will be laid off and about 6,000 open jobs will also be eliminated, according to Bloomberg . In an internal memo from Janelle Gale, Meta's head of human resources, the latest cuts are "part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making." Those "other investments" are likely in artificial intelligence. Meta is building its own models and apparently training them on its own staff . Its smart glasses are also leveraging ever-more AI capabilities . Today's layoffs likely don't mark the end of Meta's current contraction. A report from March suggested that Meta was planning to downsize by up to 20 percent , although no timeline was given. The company cut hundreds of jobs, primarily in its Reality Labs division, shortly after those claims circulated. It also kicked off 2026 by slashing its metaverse operations with the closure of three VR studios . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-downsizing-by-about-10-percent-192658099.html?src=rss
