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Ebay will lay off around 6% of its workforce
Ebay announced that it will cut around 800 roles, or 6% of its workforce, in its latest round of layoffs. “We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities, which will affect certain roles across our workforce,” an eBay spokesperson said in a statement. “We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect.” The e-commerce giant said the layoffs will be spread across the company and that decisions were made based on operating model needs, alignment of future priorities and areas of duplication. As of 31 December 2025, the company has 12,300 employees worldwide. This marks the third round of layoffs for eBay in three years. In early 2024, the company axed around 1,000 jobs, or 9% of its workforce, claiming labour costs have outpaced growth. Prior to this, eBay laid off around 500 employees, or 4% of its staff in early 2023, citing a pullback in consumer spending following the pandemic-era online shopping boom. This also comes as the company implements more AI into its services and partners with OpenAI on its agentic web browser to compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart. The
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Investment in global data centre builds skyrockets
A new report found that investment in the worldwide data centre market rose to US$61 billion (A$92.4 billion) this year, setting a new record amid the artificial intelligence boom. The S&P data, which was first reported by CNBC News, found that the data centre market grew from US$60.8 billion last year in what it called a “global construction frenzy”. There are currently around 500 data centres in the U.K. and 4,000 in the U.S., according to Data Centre Map, which tracks the facilities globally. S&P analyst Iuri Struta said he doesn’t see demand for data centre builds slowing anytime soon. “The global data centre footprint is projected to expand at a faster rate over the next five years than it did in the previous five, spurred by demand for energy- and computer-intensive AI workloads,” said Struta. “Unable to buy, many investors are turning to new builds.” This surge comes as investors have become increasingly wary of inflated artificial intelligence valuations and the financing underpinning the rapid expansion of data centres. Global stocks sold off in November as worries of an AI-fueled bubble persisted. Last week, Oracle's shares dropped 11% amid disappointing earnings and profit margins. The company al
Reports
Deloitte crowns 2025 Tech Fast 50 winners
Deloitte has announced the winners for it's 2025 Tech Fast 50 competition. Sponsored by ASX, Baker McKenzie, AWS, SAP and Atlassian, the awards rank the top 50 Australian tech companies based on the last three years of revenue growth. The winners this year reported a growth rate on average of 739%, which was achieved in the face of a difficult post-pandemic economic climate, when many businesses are struggling. The awards, now in their 25th year, also saw an increase in entry point growth, up from 105% in the 2024 report to 143% this year. Additionally, 18% of the companies included in the rankings reported over $50 mil in revenue. Heidi Health took home the top prize of Tech Fast 50 winner, achieving a growth rate of 15,323% since 2023.Credit: DeloitteThe Rising Star winner was Software at Scale, Zip scored the award for Leadership & Enterprise Growth, and Climate & Sustainability went to Tasmanian-based Firmus. Rajini Carpenter, from Beforepay Group, was the winner for Tech Female Leader. “So, we toast everyone whose hard work has earned – or in some cases, retained – their organisation’s place among Australian tech royalty,” said Josh Tanchel, the Tech Fast 50 Program Lead Partner, and Bec McConnochie, Nati
Reports
Cloud growth drives Alibaba past profit forecasts
Alibaba Group (NYSE : BABA) missed analyst revenue expectations by a noticeable margin but absolutely crushed profit forecasts - a contradiction that sent shares climbing 12.9% despite the initial wobble. The Chinese e-commerce heavyweight posted revenue of RMB247.65 billion (US$34.6 billion), falling short of the 252.9 billion yuan consensus forecast that Wall Street was banking on. Net income of 43.11 billion yuan obliterated expectations of 28.5 billion yuan. The earnings surge came largely from gains in equity investments and offloading Turkish e-commerce firm Trendyol - which means the core operating engine actually lost steam.Cloud becomes the heroCloud computing saved the quarter, with revenue rising 26% to 33.4 billion yuan - a meaningful acceleration from 18% growth in the prior quarter. This marked Alibaba's strongest cloud performance in recent memory, with AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit growth for the eighth consecutive quarter. The AI boom provided crucial momentum for Alibaba's cloud division, which has spent years struggling to match the growth rates of Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. Meanwhile, Alibaba's core e-commerce business delivered mixed signals. The main e-com
Reports
Dell tops earnings but weak Q3 outlook hits shares
Dell Technologies beat estimates on both revenue and earnings per share last quarter with growth in its artificial intelligence products, but fell in after-hours trade as its third-quarter guidance fell below expectations. Revenue was a record US$29.78 billion, up 19% year-over-year and above LSEG estimates of $29.17 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $2.32, also up 19% and beating estimates of $2.30. “We’ve now shipped $10 billion of AI solutions in the first half of the FY26, surpassing all shipments in FY25. This helped deliver another record revenue quarter in our Servers and Networking business, which grew 69%,” said Dell COO Jeff Clarke. “Demand for our AI solutions continues to be exceptional, and we’re raising our AI server shipment guidance for FY26 to $20 billion dollars.” Operating income was $1.8 billion, increasing by 10% year-over-year. Dell's Infrastructure Solutions Group segment also reported record revenue, rising 44% to $16.8 billion. Its Servers and Networking revenue surged by 69% to $12.9 billion. Client Solutions Group revenue was up 1% to $12.5 billion. While commercial client revenue grew by 2% to $10.8 billion, consumer revenue declined by 7% to $1.7 billion. The company’s thir

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New report reveals Aussies are optimistic about tech
A new report from the Tech Council Australia (TCA) revealed that Australians are embracing artificial intelligence in the workplace and are optimistic about its impacts on their working lives. The Future Ready: Australians and AI Workplace Tech report found that 94% of Aussie workers believe augmenting their jobs, not replacing them, and 72% said technology had a positive or very positive impact on their lives over the past decade. “There is a willingness from the workforce to engage and augment their jobs with AI,” TCA CEO Damian Kassabgi said. “That’s not to say there is zero concern, the main concerns raised by Australians on adopting new technologies relate to privacy, training and being involved in future decision making. But it’s positive to see that overall, Australians are optimistic and open-minded.” Respondents of all age groups reported being positive about improving their working life over the next 5-10 years, despite economic headwinds and geopolitical conflicts. Younger males emerged as the most optimistic and biggest advocates of AI and emerging technology. Overall, 78% of participants were advocates of AI and emerging technology, compared to 6% who were worried about it. As for worries in the Aust
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Australian solar farms powering off more: AEMO
At a time when Australia is on a headlong rush to transition its energy sources from coal to renewables, a new report has revealed some Australian solar farms may have to switch off up to two-thirds of the power they generate. These details are contained in a report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the organisation responsible for managing key parts of the nation’s energy system. AEMO said the energy transition was fundamentally changing the way electricity was produced, consumed, and transported across the National Electricity Market (NEM) but some locations were reaching high levels of generator curtailment. It said more than half of grid-scale wind and solar generation experienced network-driven curtailment of less than 1% in 2024. Grid-scale wind generation across the NEM averaged 1.1% network curtailment but for some units it was as high as 4.8%. “Curtailment of solar generation ranged higher than this, averaging 4.5%, with several solar farms experiencing very high levels of curtailment above 25%,” AEMO wrote in its Enhanced Locational Information (ELI) Report. Solar projects were more likely to be told to switch off than wind on average due to increased competition from rooftop solar pane
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Apple report finds latest AI tech not so intelligent
The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and the billions of dollars poured into it so far have been questioned in a new report from technology giant Apple. Researchers discovered that the latest AI technology suffered “fundamental limitations” that resulted in a “complete accuracy collapse”, according to the report. In the report, The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity, researchers described how they tested the ability of large reasoning models (LRMs) and large language models to solve puzzles. The team put LRMs, which are an advanced version of AI, along with large language models, on which platforms like ChatGPT are built, through a series of puzzle challenges ranging from simple to complex. They found large language model systems fares better than LRMs for standard tasks but both collapse when taking on more complex challenges. LRMs began “reducing their reasoning effort” as they struggled to perform, which was “particularly concerning”. “Upon approaching a critical threshold – which closely corresponds to their accuracy collapse point – models counterintuitively begin to reduce their reasoning effort despite increasing
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Businesses encouraged to use tech to boost tourism
Small tourism businesses in Queensland are being called to lift their tech game with a rebate of up to A$2,500. More than $3 million will be available to more than 1,000 businesses through the Tourism Business Digital Adaption Program to help small to medium-sized businesses stay tech-savvy and attract more tourists. The program is being championed by the current Queensland Liberal Party government which minister for the environment and tourism, Andrew Powell said shows their understanding of the importance of small business in the tourism sector. “We know innovative digital technologies can pose challenges for small business owners – a challenge we can address with the help of these rebates,” he said. “A key focus identified in our 20-year tourism plan consultation is to improve experience delivery, and digital offerings are an essential aspect of this. “From better online booking systems to AI tools to develop digital content, I encourage all eligible businesses to apply for a rebate.” The program will have three components including free online webinars and resources, a Digital Champions Network, and a rebate to implement new digital products. More than 400 Queensland tourism operators will share in $945,