Daily dispatch

April 26, 2026

Issue filed Apr 26, 2026 · 24 headlines · By Oz Gultekin

Daily dispatch for April 26, 2026. 24 headlines from labour, tech, and policy feeds, rewritten by hand for the class war in progress.

№ 01 The Verge

Meta is laying off 10 percent of its staff

Meta plans to lay off approximately 8,000 employees, about 10 percent of its workforce, in May. The company will also close around 6,000 open positions.
№ 02 The Verge

Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy

Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman over control of the company. A trial is scheduled to begin in Oakland, California on April 27th.
№ 03 The Guardian

Facing AI and a tough job market, gen Z turns to entrepreneurship: ‘I have to prove myself’

As AI erodes entry-level corporate positions, some Gen Z workers are bypassing traditional employment to launch their own companies and become entrepreneurs.
№ 04 The Guardian

US justice department steps in on behalf of xAI in Colorado regulation case

The US Justice Department has intervened in xAI's lawsuit challenging Colorado's AI regulation law. The move reflects Trump administration efforts to establish federal AI oversight.
№ 05 The New York Times

How Elon Musk Used SpaceX to Benefit Himself and His Businesses

SpaceX has provided Elon Musk with loans and financial support for his other struggling businesses, according to a New York Times investigation.
№ 06 The Verge

China’s DeepSeek previews new AI model a year after jolting US rivals

Chinese AI company DeepSeek has previewed its V4 model, claiming it can compete with leading systems from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.
№ 07 VentureBeat

Salesforce rolls out new Slackbot AI agent as it battles Microsoft and Google in workplace AI

Salesforce has launched a rebuilt Slackbot AI agent that can search enterprise data, draft documents, and take action on behalf of employees.
№ 08 Financial Times

Can AI discriminate if it can’t justify itself?

Elon Musk's lawsuit against Colorado raises fundamental questions about whether AI systems can discriminate without being able to explain their decisions.
№ 09 Financial Times

Google banks on AI edge to catch up to cloud rivals Amazon and Microsoft

Google Cloud's CEO says the company's AI chips and models position it to gain ground against cloud rivals Amazon and Microsoft.
№ 10 TechCrunch

OpenAI CEO apologizes to Tumbler Ridge community

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologized to residents of Tumbler Ridge, Canada, for failing to alert law enforcement about a mass shooting suspect.
№ 11 The New York Times

Google Commits to Invest Up to $40 Billion in Anthropic

Google has committed to investing up to $40 billion in Anthropic to help the AI startup meet accelerating demand for its products.
№ 12 Financial Times

Google to invest up to $40bn in Anthropic

Google is increasing financial support to Anthropic to help the AI lab add computing power needed to run its models.
№ 13 Fast Company

Inside the xAI exodus: Meet the dozens of people who have left Elon Musk’s AI company

More than 80 people, including cofounders and AI engineers, have departed Elon Musk's xAI company in recent months.
№ 14 The New York Times

Sam Altman’s Next High-Wire Act: Getting OpenAI to Make More Money

Sam Altman is culling OpenAI projects and pursuing a more disciplined strategy to increase the company's profitability.
№ 15 The Verge

Claude is connecting directly to your personal apps like Spotify, Uber Eats, and TurboTax

Anthropic has expanded Claude's capabilities to connect directly to personal apps including Spotify, Uber Eats, and TurboTax.
№ 16 VentureBeat

Claude Code costs up to $200 a month. Goose does the same thing for free.

Claude Code costs up to $200 monthly, but competing AI coding tools like Goose offer similar functionality for free.
№ 17 The Guardian

UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres

UK government departments disagree on energy forecasts for AI datacentres, raising questions about planning for net zero targets.
№ 18 Financial Times

Jeff Bezos’s AI lab in talks over taking London office space at King’s Cross

Jeff Bezos's AI lab Project Prometheus is in talks to take office space at King's Cross in London as part of global expansion.
№ 19 TechCrunch

Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce

Anthropic created an experimental classified marketplace where AI agents acted as buyers and sellers, conducting real transactions for real money.
№ 20 TechCrunch

Maine’s governor vetoes data center moratorium

Maine's governor vetoed a data center moratorium that would have been the country's first statewide ban, lasting until November 2027.
№ 21 The Guardian

Met investigates hundreds of officers after using Palantir AI tool

The Metropolitan Police launched investigations into hundreds of officers after using Palantir's AI tool to identify rule-breaking and suspected corruption.
№ 22 Financial Times

What the AI ‘jobpocalypse’ narrative misses

Whether AI can perform a task is only a small part of determining its actual economic impact on employment and labor markets.
№ 23 Simon Willison

The people do not yearn for automation

Public resistance to automation remains a significant factor in determining the pace and scope of technological implementation in workplaces.
№ 24 TechCrunch

Meta’s loss is Thinking Machines’ gain

Meta and Thinking Machines Lab have engaged in mutual talent recruitment, with both companies poaching employees from each other.

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