Activity

In February 2023, GitLab reduced headcount by 7% (about 130 positions), with CEO citing 'tough macroeconomic environment.' Offered 4 months base salary severance. Employees reported suspicions GitLab was 'trying to push people out' after over-hiring without paying 'absurdly good severance,' with many getting written up for unclear expectations. Glassdoor reviews described management as 'exceptionally toxic, leading with an ego and fostering an environment of distrust and anxiety.' Entire SMB team dismissed with minimal compensation. Stock dropped 12% on announcement.

Despite Musk declaring child safety his 'top priority' after acquiring Twitter, independent investigations found the situation worsened. X disbanded its Trust and Safety Council (which included 12 groups advising on child exploitation), and nonprofit Thorn terminated its contract with X after the company stopped paying invoices. A February 2023 NYT investigation found CSAM was easy to find and X was slower to action reports. NBC News found in 2025 that automated accounts were flooding hashtags with child exploitation content using the same methods identified in 2023, indicating persistent failure to address the problem.

Microsoft announced a $2.1 billion investment in a cloud datacenter region in Saudi Arabia in February 2023. Human Rights Watch and 17 other human rights organizations called on Microsoft to suspend plans, citing Saudi Arabia's surveillance laws, targeting of dissidents, and use of spyware. Microsoft refused to make its human rights assessment public and proceeded with the project, completing construction in December 2024.

Dell Technologies eliminated approximately 25,000 jobs between 2023 and 2025, including a 6,650-person layoff in February 2023 (13% of workforce) and additional rounds in 2024-2025 affecting sales and engineering teams.

In February 2023, Activision Blizzard agreed to pay $35 million to settle an SEC investigation into the company's failure to properly disclose workplace misconduct information to investors. The SEC found that Activision required departing employees who signed separation agreements to notify the company if regulators contacted them, violating federal whistleblower protections. The SEC had subpoenaed documents from Kotick and senior executives, including board meeting minutes and Kotick's communications about harassment complaints.

160 migrant workers delivering for Delivery Hero's Talabat subsidiary in Qatar faced wage theft by subcontractors, with some unpaid for up to 8 months including during the 2022 World Cup. Workers who filed labor complaints were deported. One worker died in January 2023 reportedly following an accident during non-payment period. Workers employed by Infinity Delivery Services and subcontracted to Talabat.

Binance terminated an internal investigator who discovered evidence of $300 million in wash trades by Sigma Chain, a CZ-affiliated market maker, raising concerns about retaliation against whistleblowers.

Quintessential Capital Management published a 70-page report alleging potential accounting errors at Darktrace, including 'channel stuffing' and 'round-tripping' to inflate revenue. The report referenced practices similar to those that sank Autonomy, the company founded by Darktrace investor Mike Lynch. EY's independent review found only 'small number of errors and inconsistencies' not material to financial statements.

In January 2023, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman announced the company would lay off approximately 2,000 employees, representing about 7% of its total workforce. The layoffs were part of broader cost-cutting measures across the tech industry. This was followed by another round of approximately 2,500 layoffs (9% of workforce) in January 2024, representing consecutive years of major workforce reductions.

In January 2023, Snap launched its Privacy and Safety Hub (values.snap.com), a centralized resource for privacy and safety materials. The company restricted users under 18 from creating public profiles, defaulted teen accounts to friend-only communication, redesigned its Privacy Policy for clarity with plain language and summaries, and partnered with IAPP and Future Privacy Forum on privacy education tools. In 2024, Snap further updated its privacy policy to lead with user data controls for access, download, and deletion.

On January 24, 2023 short-seller Hindenburg Research published a multi-year investigation alleging that Adani Group entities engaged in 'brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud' through a network of offshore shell companies in Mauritius, Cyprus and the Caribbean, and that disclosed leverage levels were understated. Adani-listed equities lost more than $150 billion in market value in the weeks that followed. India's market regulator SEBI subsequently investigated some of the underlying claims; the Supreme Court of India declined in 2024 to order an SIT probe. Adani Group denied the allegations and threatened legal action against Hindenburg.

Between 2019 and 2023, Microsoft invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI across multiple rounds ($1B in 2019, ~$2B in 2021, $10B in 2023), becoming its exclusive cloud provider via Azure and gaining rights to commercialize OpenAI's models. The partnership made Microsoft the dominant platform for frontier AI deployment. By October 2025, Microsoft's stake was valued at approximately $135 billion representing ~27% on a diluted basis.

On January 20, 2023, Sundar Pichai announced layoffs of approximately 12,000 employees (6% of workforce). Many received automated emails in the middle of the night and were locked out of corporate accounts immediately, including decades-long veterans, an employee on health leave, and an employee in labor. Pichai later admitted in December 2023 that it was 'not the right way to do it' and that it created 'a big impact on morale.' Over 1,300 employees later signed a job security petition. Workers asked for voluntary redundancies before compulsory ones, and freezing new hires.

In January 2023, state-backed entities took stakes in two Alibaba subsidiaries overseeing a video platform and web browser. The 'golden shares' allow state-backed entity to install board member with veto rights over content review processes. Alibaba confirmed a state-owned multimedia entity has the right to appoint a director with veto power over content decisions. Cyberspace Administration of China requires elaborate AI model reviews.

In 2022-2023, several Sequoia Capital India portfolio companies were embroiled in corporate governance scandals. BharatPe, where Sequoia held 19.6% shares as largest shareholder, faced allegations of financial irregularities. GoMechanic's founders were found to have committed fraud, leading Sequoia to write off its investment. Trell and Zillingo also faced governance issues. Sequoia publicly stated it would 'not tolerate any financial irregularity' and engaged Ernst & Young for audits. The pattern raised questions about Sequoia's portfolio oversight and due diligence practices in its India operations.

Stability AI built its Stable Diffusion image generation model using the LAION dataset of 5 billion images scraped from the internet without creator consent or licensing. Visual artists filed a class action (Andersen v. Stability AI) in January 2023, and Getty Images sued in February 2023 over infringement of 12 million+ photographs. A leaked Midjourney spreadsheet cataloged 4,700+ artist names whose styles were specifically targeted. Trial is set for September 2026.

Coinbase conducted major workforce reductions: 1,100 employees (18% of workforce) in June 2022 and 950 employees (20% of remaining workforce) in January 2023. CEO Brian Armstrong stated they 'grew too quickly' during the bull market. The technology and development division saw a 24% headcount reduction. Restructuring costs were $149-163 million in Q1 2023.

In January 2023, Ant Group announced restructuring so Jack Ma no longer controlled the company. Ma's voting rights fell from over 50% to 6.2%. Ten major shareholders began using voting rights independently, no longer acting in concert. Changes came as Ant neared completion of two-year regulatory restructuring. Chinese authorities imposed $984 million fine on Ant and units in July 2023 for allegedly breaking consumer protection and corporate governance rules.

New York state regulators levied a $50 million fine against Coinbase for failing to build and maintain a functional compliance program to prevent money laundering. Regulators found significant deficiencies in Coinbase's anti-money laundering controls and know-your-customer procedures.

In January 2023, CEO Marc Benioff announced the dismissal of approximately 7,000 employees, roughly 10% of Salesforce's workforce. The announcement was made via a two-hour all-hands meeting over a video call, a method Benioff later admitted had been a 'bad idea.' Benioff attributed the layoffs to over-hiring during the pandemic, stating 'I hired too many people leading into this economic downturn.'

Google Health developed and deployed AI-powered medical diagnostic tools across multiple domains: partnering with Nexus Intelligence for TB screening from chest x-rays in endemic countries, collaborating with Mayo Clinic on AI-assisted cancer radiotherapy planning, and building AI models to expand ultrasound access for healthcare providers with limited training. In January 2025, Google released MedGemma 1.5, an open medical AI model for interpreting 3D CT/MRI scans and histopathology images. These tools aim to improve diagnostic accuracy and accessibility in resource-limited healthcare settings.

Dell Technologies' closed-loop recycling program recovered over 2.5 billion pounds of used electronics since 2007, becoming an industry leader in e-waste recovery and using recycled materials in new products.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz initiated and led a partnership with the United Negro College Fund over 20 years ago, through which the company has provided over $12 million in scholarships and internships. Oracle also created its first DE&I team in 2009, launched an Executive Diversity Council, and maintains multiple employee resource groups including networks for diverse abilities, LGBTQ+ employees, cultural harmony, indigenous employees, and intergenerational collaboration.

Adobe has maintained carbon neutrality in global operations since 2019, reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47% from 2018 to 2023, and accelerated its 100% renewable electricity goal from 2035 to 2025. The company set near-term targets including 42% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions and 52% reduction in Scope 3 emissions per USD value added by FY 2030. In January 2023, Adobe opened Founders Tower, the first all-electric building of its scale powered by 100% renewable energy in Silicon Valley.

HelloBetter received Digital Health Application (DiGA) certification from Germany's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices for six mental health programs. The certification means 73 million Germans can access the programs with 100% health insurance coverage. HelloBetter's evidence base of 33 peer-reviewed RCTs is the strongest globally for digital mental health interventions.

Mozilla Foundation cited Wysa for strong privacy practices in its Privacy Not Included review, calling it 'refreshing to see a mental health app' that doesn't monetize personal information. Wysa received the Mozilla 'Best Of' 2023 recognition. The app is GDPR compliant and registered as a data controller with UK ICO.

OneWeb has established industry-leading orbital sustainability practices through its 'Responsible Space' initiative. The company designed its 648-satellite constellation with built-in debris mitigation: all satellites include propulsion for active deorbiting at end of life, orbit at lower altitudes (1,200km) than Starlink for faster natural decay, and maintain collision avoidance protocols. OneWeb has committed to zero long-lived debris and publishes orbital data for transparency.

Multiple investigations by China Labor Watch (2016, 2023) found labor abuses in factories supplying ASUS, including excessive overtime, forced labor, low wages, inadequate training, workers going three months without a day off, and use of student interns. ASUS was also identified by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute as potentially benefiting from Uyghur forced labor in its supply chain.

iFixit built and maintains a free, open wiki-style platform containing over 100,000 step-by-step repair guides covering more than 30,000 devices. The platform empowers consumers to repair their own electronics, reducing e-waste and extending device lifetimes. All content is licensed under Creative Commons.

GyroGear raised $4.3 million in seed funding led by Foxconn Technology Group (£1 million investment), with participation from Fidelium Group and UK Government Future Fund. The funding supports development of GyroGlove, a hand-stabilizing device for people with Parkinson's disease and hand tremors, demonstrating commitment to accessibility innovation.