EssilorLuxottica Bets on AI-Powered Smart Glasses as Competition Intensifies 
ANZ Faces Legal Battle as Former CEO Shayne Elliott Sues Over A$13.5 Million Bonus Dispute 
Microsoft Unveils Massive Global AI Investments, Prioritizing India’s Rapidly Growing Digital Market 
Trello Outage Disrupts Users as Access Issues Hit Atlassian’s Work Management Platform 
Mizuho Raises Broadcom Price Target to $450 on Surging AI Chip Demand 
SK Hynix Labeled “Investment Warning Stock” After Extraordinary 200% Share Surge 
Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Sparks Global Debate and Early Challenges 
SpaceX Insider Share Sale Values Company Near $800 Billion Amid IPO Speculation 
Nvidia Develops New Location-Verification Technology for AI Chips 
SpaceX Edges Toward Landmark IPO as Elon Musk Confirms Plans 
U.S. Greenlights Nvidia H200 Chip Exports to China With 25% Fee 
SK Hynix Shares Surge on Hopes for Upcoming ADR Issuance 
Westpac Director Peter Nash Avoids Major Investor Backlash Amid ASX Scrutiny 
CVS Health Signals Strong 2026 Profit Outlook Amid Turnaround Progress 
Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools Raises U.S. National Security Concerns 
Apple App Store Injunction Largely Upheld as Appeals Court Rules on Epic Games Case 
Google confirmed, shortly after it leaked, that several projects of its in-house incubator Area 120 have been cancelled. The tech giant says the remaining projects will be aligned to its AI push.
The cancellation of Area 120 projects was first revealed by TechCrunch with the publication reporting that half of the incubator’s projects will no longer proceed. There were 14 projects in the incubator before the cuts.
“We’ve recently shared that Area 120 will be shifting its focus to projects that build on Google’s deep investment in AI and have the potential to solve important user problems,” Google said upon confirming the project cuts. “As a result, Area 120 is winding down several projects to make way for new work.”
Google added that it would provide “dedicated support” so that affected Googlers at Area 120 would find new jobs within the Alphabet Inc.-owned company. But the same report said that the affected employees would be terminated if they were unable to find new positions within Google by the end of January 2023.
TechCrunch’s source said Qaya was one of Area 120’s cancelled projects. Qaya was launched last December, but the Area 120 website indicates it is still in the early access phase. It offers services to digital creators to help them set up a hub for all their social media links that also serve as a storefront for their merch. Google also reportedly cancelled projects that were exploring Google Sheets financial accounting, a product for AR/VR analytics, and three climate-related projects.
The Area 120 shakeup happened after Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly told employees in July that they will slow down hiring for the rest of the year. In the same memo, Pichai mentioned Google will consolidate overlapping investments and redeploy its resources.
It was also recently reported that Google disbanded a team working on what would have been the next Pixelbook even though the product was already in the latter stages of development. Before its cancellation, the company supposedly planned to launch the device in 2023.
Photo by Marco Verch from Flickr under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0)
