Yann LeCun's AI Startup AMI Raises $1 Billion at $3.5 Billion Valuation 
Foxconn Sees Strong Growth Ahead Despite Limited Impact From U.S.–Israel–Iran Tensions 
U.S. Considers New Rules Tying AI Chip Exports to Investment and Security Guarantees 
Apple Bets Big on India: iPhone Production Hits 55 Million Units as China Reliance Fades 
PayPay IPO Expected to Price at Lower End Amid Global Market Uncertainty 
Lindt Posts Record CHF 5.92 Billion in Sales for 2025, Doubles Share Buyback Program 
U.S. Senate Greenlights AI Chatbots for Official Staff Use 
Morgan Stanley Limits Withdrawals at Private Credit Fund Amid Market Turmoil 
Pentagon Labels Anthropic AI a Supply-Chain Risk, Restricting Use in U.S. Military Projects 
Oracle Stock Surges as AI Data Center Boom Drives Revenue Beat and Bullish 2027 Outlook 
Amazon Engineers Investigate AI-Linked Outages as GenAI Coding Tools Raise Reliability Concerns 
ANZ and Westpac Forecast Two RBA Rate Hikes in March and May 2026 
Nintendo Stock Surges 10% as Pokémon Pokopia Breaks Sales Records 
Pokemon Pokopia Sells 2.2 Million Copies in Four Days, Boosting Nintendo Switch 2 Momentum 
Broadcom Stock Jumps After Strong Earnings Beat and Bullish AI Revenue Outlook 
Anduril Industries Acquires ExoAnalytic Solutions to Bolster Space Defense Capabilities 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says $100B OpenAI Investment Unlikely as AI Demand Surges 
Ford Motor Company is trimming down its workforce at its Michigan production plant for F-150 Lightning pick-up trucks. The automaker cited slow EV sales as the reason for the move.
Ford Motor will slash two-thirds or about 1,400 workers at its factory that manufactures the F-150 Lightning electric pick-ups. The company’s spokesperson, Jessica Enoch, said the displaced employees will be offered new jobs or retirement packages starting next week.
Implementation of the Latest Job Cuts
The company will start laying off plant workers on Monday next week. Associated Press News reported that Ford Motor kicked off 2024 by reducing the production of its F-150 Lightning trucks due to weaker-than-expected EV sales growth.
It was noted that while electric vehicle sales are generally booming in the United States, the pace of the growth is failing to meet the EV industry’s aggressive timetable. In addition, many people are also starting to like hybrid vehicles and buying them instead.
Reassignment of Staff as Focus Shifts to Gas Vehicles
Ford Motor Company is moving 700 employees to its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, where Ranger and Bronco models are made. The reassignments align with the company’s shift of focus to gas-powered SUVs and trucks.
The remaining 700 staff may opt to take advantage of a retirement package offered by the company last year during its negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW). They can also be deployed to southeast Michigan for available job posts. As explained by Enoch, the affected employees who will not retire will not go jobless since they will be reassigned.
“Their intentions were to build 180,000-plus units,” Teslarati quoted Todd Dunn, president of UAW, regarding the job cuts. “Right now, we’re looking at 55,000 units they are gonna build. There are some things out there that are causing this - distance on (battery) charges, a new technology that is being brought about overseas, that technology being implemented over there already in certain design models.”
Photo by: Cyrus Crossan/Unsplash
