Weekly briefing
Barclays cuts 5,000 jobs as Germany signs AI pact with Nvidia
Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs as AI takes on more work, Germany signed an AI deal with Nvidia, and Legora is now worth $8.8bn.
Published
- Hiring market
Barclays cuts 5,000 jobs and points to AI
Barclays will cut about 5,000 jobs by the end of the year, around 5% of its staff worldwide. About 1,000 of those have already gone. Most of the cuts fall in support teams, including software developers, and the bank says AI is making the staff who stay more productive.
What it means for hiringBanks have long been steady employers of software developers. If AI is now shrinking those teams, expect more experienced engineers to look at startups, and more companies to ask whether they need fewer, more senior hires.
- AI
Germany signs a deal with Nvidia to put AI into factories and robots
Germany has signed an agreement with Nvidia to speed up the use of AI in robots, machines and cars. Siemens will work with Nvidia on factories run by AI, and Nvidia plans to invest in four German startups, including robot maker Agile Robots. The government has not said how much it will spend.
What it means for hiringAI for robots and machines is now a national priority in Germany. Engineers who understand both AI and hardware are already scarce, and big German industry will be competing with startups to hire them.
- Funding
Swedish legal AI company Legora raises $550m
Legora, a Swedish company whose AI helps lawyers research, review and draft their work, has raised $550 million, six months after its last round. That values it at $8.8 billion. The money will pay for growth in North America, Europe and Asia, and for AI tools that handle longer legal tasks on their own.
What it means for hiringEuropean AI companies are raising at prices once seen only in the US. Expect Legora to hire hard for engineers and product people, including in the US, which is now its biggest market.
- Data & engineering
Websites across Europe go dark after AI helps find PHP flaws
Two serious security flaws were found in PHP, the programming language behind about 70% of the world’s websites. Governments in France, Germany and elsewhere took websites offline as a precaution. AI tools helped find the bugs, and PHP released emergency fixes on 22 October.
What it means for hiringAI is now finding security holes faster than many teams can fix them. Security engineers, and people who can keep older systems up to date, are worth more than ever.
- Regulation
The US moves to stop more American money going into Chinese AI
The US Treasury has proposed wider limits on American investment in AI, chip, quantum and biotech companies in China, Russia and a few other countries. Some deals that only had to be reported would now be banned outright. Comments close on 7 December, and the final rules will set the start date.
What it means for hiringUS money for deep tech is being pushed away from China. That makes European AI and chip startups more attractive to US investors, which means more funded companies chasing the same engineers.
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