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Amazon CEO Andy JassyMichael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesAmazon plans to lay off thousands of corporate employees in coming days.This second major round of Amazon layoffs since October would bring the total to about 30,000 jobs.Amazon is trying to streamline operations and reset its culture.Amazon is planning to eliminate thousands of corporate employees, with cuts expected to begin as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.The reductions would mark the company's second wave of mass layoffs since October, when Amazon cut about 14,000 jobs. Two of the people said the company is expected to eliminate a similar number of roles in the coming round, bringing total job cuts to almost 30,000.The latest cuts underscore Amazon's continued efforts to streamline operations and reset its culture.Amazon first attributed the October job cuts to changes brought on by AI. But CEO Andy Jassy later said the layoffs were instead tied to cultural fit, not cost savings or AI.Amazon employs more than 1.5 million people globally, though its corporate workforce makes up a relatively small share, at about 350,000.An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.Reuters earlier reported this latest round of cuts could come as early as next week.Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at ekim@businessinsider.com or Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 650-942-3061. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.Read the original article on Business Insider

Paris Hilton and AOC at an event supporting the DEFIANCE Act, a bill that would create a civil right of action allowing victims of AI-generated deepfake porn to sue the creators and distributors of those images.Heather Diehl/Getty ImagesParis Hilton is teaming up with AOC on a bill to combat AI-generated deepfake porn."While these images may be digital, the harm to victims is very real," Ocasio-Cortez said.The proposed legislation comes after Grok began generating sexualized deepfakes of people on X, leading to backlash.Paris Hilton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are taking on AI-generated deepfake porn.The hotel heiress and businesswoman traveled to the Capitol on Thursday for a press conference with the New York Democrat and Republican Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida to promote the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, or DEFIANCE Act.The bill would create a civil right of action allowing victims of AI-generated deepfake porn to sue the creators and distributors of those images."While these images may be digital, the harm to victims is very real," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Women lose their jobs when they are targeted with this, teenagers switch schools, and children lose their lives."Hilton spoke emotionally about having an intimate video of her shared widely online when she was 19."People called it a scandal. It wasn't. It was abuse. There were no laws at the time to protect me," Hilton said. "There weren't even words for what had been done to me. The internet was still new, and so was the cruelty that came with it.""What happened to me then is happening now to millions of women and girls in a new and more terrifying way," Hilton added.Though Elon Musk's X and the AI chatbot Grok were not mentioned by name at the press conference, the push to pass the bill comes after the AI agent began generating sexualized images of people, including minors, in response to prompts from users on X. The AI images spurring widespread concerns and even bans on Grok in some countries.X has since stopped the Grok account from generating sexualized images of real people when tagged on the social network — though you can still do so using the app. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has said that anyone "using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.""There is an explosion of AI generating explicit images of children," Ocasio-Cortez wrote earlier this month in response to news coverage of the Grok-generated images. "And it's not just actresses. Across the country, more and more teenage girls are becoming victims of deepfake harassment. Congress must step in and pass my DEFIANCE Act to ensure victims can seek justice."Social media companies have largely been shielded from being held legally liable for illegal content shared on their platforms thanks to Section 230 of The Communications Decency Act of 1996, though the provision has come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats in the last decade. The DEFIANCE Act passed the Senate last week by a voice vote, meaning no senator objected. It remains unclear when the bill will come up for a vote in the Senate, though Speaker Mike Johnson told The Independent recently that he's "certainly in favor of it."In May, President Donald Trump signed the "TAKE IT DOWN Act" into law, which includes a provision requiring platforms to take down AI-generated revenge porn. That provision doesn't fully take effect until May 2026.This isn't the first time Hilton has come to Capitol Hill to advocate for a piece of legislation.In both 2021 and 2023, she came to Washington to push for the passage of a bill aimed at combating abuse in residential treatment facilities for troubled teens.Read the original article on Business Insider

Elon Musk made his first-ever appearance at Davos where he joked about Greenland, and discussed the future of AI and humanoid robots.Read the original article on Business Insider

Community donations at Smitten Kitten (left and right), and BabyBel Mozzarella the cat (middle), are supporting Minnesotans.Mikayla Stanek (Smitten Kitten); Vanessa Beardsley (Catzen)January is typically a slow month for retailers — a time for restocking, chores, and tax prep.This year, small businesses in the Minneapolis area have thrown that out the window.They're offering aid during heightened ICE activity; some will close for Friday's economic blackout.January is typically a quiet month at Mischief Toys in St. Paul, Minnesota.Owner Dan Marshall said he usually spends it cleaning up after Christmas, painting the walls, and doing his taxes.This year, though, "that's not what we're being called to do," said Marshall, who co-owns the toy and game store with his wife and daughter. Instead, he estimates that the store has distributed around 4,000 3D printed whistles, which Minnesotans have been using as an alert and protest system against ICE. Marshall said that the store has also served as a space for the community to come in, relax, and process what they've been seeing."Retail feels totally different right now," Marshall said. "It feels like a way of connecting with our community that we haven't really felt before. It's very raw."It's part of what Minneapolis-area business owners hope is a temporary abandonment of business-as-usual. Since December, the Department of Homeland Security's Operation Metro Surge has poured ICE agents into Minnesota. Rising tensions following officer Jonathan Ross's fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Gold on January 7 have further turned a normally chill month into a flurry of whistle-distributing and community aid. For small business owners in Minnesota, it's been an eventful — and not necessarily lucrative — January, as they instead turn their attention to supporting their communities.Many businesses are also opting into a possible income hit on January 23, when unions and faith leaders are calling for a suspension of work, school, and shopping to protest ICE's actions. Local news site Bring Me The News compiled a growing list of over 200 local establishments' social media posts about their plans to participate in the economic blackout day. Some have said they plan to donate that day's revenue; others are shuttering completely or opening as a free community space.DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a January 20 press release, "Since President Trump took office, DHS has arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota, and we are NOT slowing down. Our law enforcement officers are saving countless American lives." ICE did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that the Trump administration's immigration operations "have resulted in countless dangerous criminal illegals being removed from the streets.""Making American communities safer will create an environment in which all businesses can thrive in the long term and their customers can feel safe," Jackson said.Catzen Coffee, a specialty coffee shop with an attached cat lounge, will not be doing business on Friday, but plans to open for those who need a space to hang out — free coffee and cat cuddles included.Catzen owner Vanessa Beardsley said that the irony of being a business owner and opting out of business for a day never crossed her mind; not making revenue was never part of the calculus."We've got to do what we can do right now," Beardsley said. Have a story to tell? Reach out to this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com. A topsy-turvy January"January always sucks," Matt Cole, the owner of Oh Yeah! Cookie Company, said. "As a business owner, especially in retail business, people spend a lot of money in December and November, and they usually don't spend a lot of money in…

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty ImagesTesla says some of its cars are now driving passengers without a human monitor in the front seat.CEO Elon Musk has been pushing to launch more self-driving cars in other US cities.Competitors launched similar products in the city 10 months ago.Tesla's cars passed their driver's exam.On Thursday, a Tesla executive said a handful of driverless robotaxis were hitting Austin streets without any human chaperones on board."Robotaxi rides without any safety monitors are now publicly available in Austin," Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's vice president of AI software, wrote in an X post.The move marks a significant step for Tesla's long-running push toward fully autonomous ride-hailing.Robotaxi rides without any safety monitors are now publicly available in Austin.Starting with a few unsupervised vehicles mixed in with the broader robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and the ratio will increase over time. https://t.co/ShMpZjefwB— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) January 22, 2026 Tesla first launched its driverless robotaxi service last June, initially limiting rides to a small group of investors and fans. Those rides included human supervisors in the front seat, tasked with intervening if the system made errors.In December, Tesla put out a few cars without the monitors, but did not allow riders in the back seat.Now, Tesla is opening the second-row doors for people who need a ride. The automaker did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, including questions about pricing and availability.My first unsupervised @robotaxi ride here in Austin! Come along with me on this 1st experience of driving around Austin with just me in the car and in the back seat!Congrats to the @Tesla_AI team! 🤠👍 pic.twitter.com/YVJ19zp2qZ— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) January 22, 2026 The company's self-driving launch comes 10 months after Waymo — the self-driving startup owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet — launched its driverless competitor in the city.It comes amid a major year for Tesla. CEO Elon Musk has predicted that several AI-built technologies will launch this year, including nationwide robotaxi services, new self-driving vehicles, and humanoid robots.Tesla's stock shot up after Elluswamy's post, increasing from $438.77 a share before the announcement to just under $450 after.Musk and Tesla will host an earnings call next Wednesday, including updates on its self-driving programs.Read the original article on Business Insider