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Checkout.com underwent severe workforce reductions throughout 2022-2023. After publicly cutting 5% in September 2022, the company made 'layoffs by stealth' with 20-30 Slack deactivations weekly. By end of 2023, UK headcount fell 72% from 1,032 to 284 employees. The Technology and Product team dropped from 508 to 99 people. Employees reported being 'treated coldly' with 'no proper justification except budget cuts' and described three layoff rounds in 16 months.

Xiaomi's 2023 ESG report showed the company achieved 95.94% of its product recycling target and significantly expanded its use of renewable energy across manufacturing operations.

In December 2023, GitLab announced that users in mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong must migrate to JiHu (gitlab.cn), a separate Chinese entity, by February 2025 or have their accounts deleted. Some users reported accounts being deleted with minimal notice. GitLab had licensed its technology to JiHu to serve the Chinese market, but the forced migration raised concerns about data sovereignty and user choice.

Alex Karp has repeatedly condemned 'woke' thinking, calling it 'the central risk to Palantir and America and the world' and 'a regressive way of thinking that is corrupting and corroding our institutions that calls itself progressive... but is actually a form of a thin pagan religion.' He positioned Palantir as a 'counter-example' to 'woke' companies.

Alex Karp has been a vocal advocate for Silicon Valley supporting the US military, stating that technology companies like Palantir have 'an obligation to support the U.S. military.' At the 2023 Reagan National Defense Forum, he said 'Somehow the corporate elite of this country thinks when it's time to make money, you stand up, and when it's time to stand up, you go play golf.' He describes Palantir as 'active in defending the values of the West' and states 'our belief that the West is a superior way to live.'

In 2023, ASML violated a 'gentlemen's agreement' with the United States by selling far more chip-making machines to China than agreed during September 2023-January 2024. According to a book by former Bloomberg journalists, then-CEO Peter Wennink suggested ASML could provide the U.S. with insight into Chinese chip factories in exchange for allowing ASML engineers to continue serving Chinese customers, with a senior American official stating 'ASML could be Washington's eyes and ears in China.' ASML denied the claim, calling it 'factually incorrect and significantly misleading.'

In December 2023, Grab Philippines reduced driver fare rates from P45 to P35 per order and per-kilometer rates from P10 to P7, prompting widespread protests. The National Union of Food Delivery Riders claimed the new fare matrix reduced drivers' income significantly. Drivers alleged that Grab suspended or terminated workers who joined protests against the fare cuts. The National Labor Relations Commission launched an investigation into the alleged illegal terminations. Senator Risa Hontiveros stated 'If the goal of this new fare matrix is to ease the burden of customers, it should not come at the expense of the platform's riders.' Grab denied indiscriminate sanctions, claiming 'proper assessment and due process.'

Despite marketing itself as a climate-focused company, Tesla received F grades from CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) for its climate change disclosures, while competitors like Ford received A grades since 2019. Tesla has fallen behind other automakers in sharing greenhouse gas emissions data and environmental reporting transparency. CEO Elon Musk dismissed the ESG framework as a scam, saying it 'has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors.'

In December 2023, Rebellion Defense lost a major military contract and laid off approximately 90 employees. CEO and co-founder Chris Lynch had stepped down in August 2023, with Barry Sowerwine becoming interim CEO. The company, once valued at $1 billion, struggled to find widespread product adoption despite close Pentagon ties. Glassdoor reviews averaged 2.3/5 stars, with employees describing leadership as dysfunctional and citing the reduction in force as damaging to morale.

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approved Uber's 1.5°C aligned near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets and verified Uber's net-zero science-based target by 2040. Uber became one of more than 600 companies to have net-zero commitments validated by SBTi. Commitments included: zero-emission mobility platform by 2040 globally, 100% zero-emission rides in US/Canada/Europe by 2030, zero-emission rides in London/Amsterdam and 50% in 7 European capitals by 2025, and $800 million 'Green Future' program for driver EV transition. Note: These commitments were later abandoned in December 2025.

The FSF's Defective by Design campaign continued its longstanding fight against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) through annual International Day Against DRM events from 2020-2023, targeting streaming services (2020), Disney+ (2021), digital sharing restrictions (2022), and DRM in public libraries via OverDrive and Follett Destiny (2023). The FSF also successfully pushed for new DMCA anticircumvention exemptions in 2021, helping secure legal protections for users who need to bypass DRM for ethical and legitimate purposes. The campaign frames DRM as a threat to innovation, privacy, and user freedom.

Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle DOJ charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and sanctions violations. CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned and pled guilty.

The UK Supreme Court ruled that Deliveroo riders are self-employed independent contractors who cannot be legally classified as 'workers' under UK trade union law. The ruling denied riders access to collective bargaining rights the IWGB union had sought since 2017. This despite research finding one-third of riders earned below minimum wage, with some working 80-hour weeks.

Following Elon Musk's October 2022 acquisition of Twitter (renamed X), advertising revenue plummeted approximately 54% year-over-year. By February 2023, more than half of X's top 1,000 advertisers had stopped spending on the platform. Projected 2023 ad revenue dropped to approximately $2.5 billion, down from $4.5 billion before the acquisition. The exodus was driven by Musk's content moderation rollbacks, reinstatement of banned accounts, and his own posting of antisemitic content endorsement in November 2023. X's overall value dropped approximately 80% from Musk's $44 billion purchase price.

Ilya Sutskever was one of the OpenAI board members who voted to remove Sam Altman as CEO in November 2023. The firing reportedly stemmed from concerns about Altman's candor with the board and the pace of AI development. Altman was reinstated five days later after employee revolt and investor pressure. Sutskever stepped down from the board but remained at OpenAI until May 2024.

On November 17, 2023, OpenAI's board fired Sam Altman, stating he was 'not consistently candid in his communications.' Former board member Helen Toner later revealed specific allegations: Altman didn't inform the board about ChatGPT's launch (they learned from Twitter), concealed his ownership of OpenAI's startup fund, provided inaccurate information about safety processes, and two executives reported 'psychological abuse' with documentation. After 95% of employees threatened to resign, Altman was reinstated on November 22 with a reconstituted board. A later WilmerHale investigation found 'a significant breakdown of trust' but did not publish its full findings.

When the OpenAI board fired Sam Altman on November 17, 2023, Mira Murati was named interim CEO. She held the role briefly before the board appointed Emmett Shear, then ultimately Sam Altman returned. Murati was reportedly one of the senior leaders who pushed for Altman's reinstatement and threatened to resign with 700+ employees.

Google launched its Dammam cloud region in November 2023 in partnership with Saudi Aramco despite opposition from 39 human rights organizations. Google refused to make its human rights assessment public. At the 2022 shareholder meeting, 57.6% of independent shareholders voted for transparency, but Alphabet's multi-class voting structure allowed leadership to defeat the proposal.

From 2023-2024, Musk used his X account (the most-followed on the platform) to systematically amplify conspiracy theories and far-right disinformation. He endorsed the antisemitic 'great replacement' conspiracy theory, boosted anti-immigrant conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants, amplified accounts like @EndWokeness and @libsoftiktok (which inspired bomb threats at a children's hospital), and shared election fraud conspiracies. A 2023 Science Feedback analysis found 'super-spreader' disinformation accounts saw a 42% increase in engagement, with Musk personally interacting with their top posts.

At KubeCon 2023, Oracle announced $3 million per year for three years in Ampere Arm-based compute credits on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Oracle is a founding member of the Linux Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, and Java Community Process, maintains 1,400+ GitHub repositories with 5,000+ contributors, and is the top contributor for total lines of code changed across the Linux 6.1 kernel.

On November 6, 2023, WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reporting $19 billion in liabilities against $15 billion in assets. The bankruptcy affected over 500 locations worldwide, nearly 300 in the US and Canada. The company needed to terminate more than 100 leases and eliminate over $4 billion in debt. The filing represented the culmination of years of unsustainable spending, governance failures, and an over-leveraged real estate model that left employees, landlords, and investors bearing massive losses.

New York Attorney General secured $290 million from Uber (part of $328 million combined with Lyft) to settle allegations the company unlawfully withheld wages from over 100,000 drivers and failed to provide mandatory paid sick leave in New York state. Largest wage-theft settlement won by NY Attorney General. From 2014 to 2017, Uber deducted sales taxes and Black Car Fund fees from drivers' payments when those taxes and fees should have been paid by passengers. Settlement grants drivers one hour of sick pay for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours per year, starting February 29, 2024. Settlement does not change gig worker status in New York State - drivers remain classified as independent contractors.

A November 2023 academic study published by Bristol University Press found MercadoLibre's combination of algorithmic management with discretionary human management 'limited workers' autonomy, increased control to virtually any time spent by workers, and imposed stressful working conditions with negative implications for health and safety.' The study noted the company's hiring strategy relies 'extensively on labour broking.'

Beginning late 2023, dozens of former American TCS employees filed EEOC complaints alleging systematic discrimination based on race, age, and national origin. Complainants - largely non-South Asian professionals over 40 - say TCS targeted them for layoffs while sparing Indian colleagues including H-1B visa workers. Key evidence: TCS global HR head Milind Lakkad told Indian news agency TCS wanted to reduce American employee percentage from 70% to 50% to 'offer opportunities to staff in India.' April 2024: US Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) urged EEOC formal investigation, noting complainants were his constituents and suggested 'broader pattern of discrimination' and 'potential misuse of U.S. work visa programs.' October 2025: Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin questioned TCS about hiring 5,505 new H-1B workers in FY2025 while 'hundreds of thousands of American tech employees have been laid off.' Multiple class action lawsuits: Heldt (2015-2018, defense verdict), Katz (2022-2023, partially dismissed), Devorin (2024, pending). Investigation ongoing as of January 2026.

Lyft paid $38 million as part of $328 million settlement (combined with Uber) in what Attorney General Letitia James called 'the single largest wage theft case in the history of New York State.' Lyft improperly took sales tax out of driver payments when cost should have been billed directly to passengers. Drivers who used Lyft Driver app between October 11, 2015 and July 31, 2017 eligible for payment. Settlement also provides paid sick leave: 1 hour per 30 worked, up to 56 hours per year at minimum $26 per hour (adjusted annually for inflation).

In November 2023, U.S. lawmakers asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Neuralink and Elon Musk deceived investors by omitting details about animal deaths during brain implant trials. An investigation by Wired, including veterinary records, contradicted Musk's public claim that monkeys who died were already terminally ill and did not die as a result of Neuralink implants. In December 2024, the New York Times reported that the SEC had reopened its investigation into the alleged abuses.

A November 2023 Reuters investigation uncovered over 600 previously unreported worker injuries at SpaceX facilities, including broken bones, amputations, crushed limbs, electrocutions, and at least one death. SpaceX failed to report annual injury totals to OSHA as required since 2016. OSHA has issued 11 citations since 2021, including a $115,850 fine after a 2025 crane collapse at Starbase. Former employees described a culture prioritizing aggressive timelines over safety, with workers welding 12-hour days in extreme heat and Musk reportedly discouraging safety vests.

Masayoshi Son overrode his lieutenants' objections and invested billions from both SoftBank Group and Vision Fund in WeWork, lifting its valuation to $47 billion by early 2019 despite fundamental business weaknesses. After WeWork's failed IPO attempt in 2019, SoftBank provided a $9.5 billion rescue package. WeWork filed for bankruptcy in November 2023, costing SoftBank an estimated $11.5 billion in equity losses plus $2.2 billion in outstanding debt. Son told shareholders 'I fell in love with WeWork' and admitted in August 2022 he was 'embarrassed' and 'ashamed' about Vision Fund management.

In 2023, Palantir was awarded a seven-year £330M contract with NHS England to build a Federated Data Platform, centralizing patient data from up to 240 NHS trusts and integrated care systems. Critics raised concerns about a surveillance-focused company managing sensitive health data, including mental health records, cancer screening, and STI vaccination data. The Department of Health data showed over 300 different purposes for processing information had been created. A former NHS AI lab director who had pledged to close the COVID datastore later left to join Palantir, raising revolving-door concerns.

Google DeepMind became an early partner of the UK AI Security Institute (AISI) since its inception in November 2023, committing to provide pre-release access to its most capable frontier models for independent safety evaluation. This makes DeepMind one of the first AI labs to submit to external government safety testing, supporting the development of national AI safety infrastructure.