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Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu said on Tuesday that the company will freeze salary hikes this year due to AI-driven disruption. Many software firms now face similar cost pressures as AI automates business processes. Vembu noted, "We have also told our employees that we cannot have our usual pay increase."
Microsoft Azure is not taking cost-cutting measures, a spokesperson said, despite reports of an AI overhaul. The company also announced its new Maia 300 AI chip on October 12. Rani Borkar said, "It's basically delivering more intelligence for every watt, every dollar, and every byte of memory by optimizing."
Bengaluru-based mobile gaming studio Spill Games raised $10.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Elevation Capital. The company will use these funds to scale successful titles and strengthen its AI capabilities. Manish Advani said, "We believe the next decade will see the rise of AI-native gaming studios."
OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested on October 9 for planting a high-tech listening device in a San Francisco office. The 35-year-old engineer allegedly hid the device inside a television. OpenAI said, "We discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices" and contacted the FBI.
Helix Carbon says it can make iron cheaper by recycling blast furnace pollution. The startup uses an electrolyzer to turn waste carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which helps reduce coke use. CEO David Brown said, “Any attempt to decarbonize the steel industry without dealing with the blast furnace is not going to work.”
Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman said the AI doomer narrative hurts the industry at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. He argued that leaders should focus on the technology's potential to cure diseases instead of just risks. “I think what we have to say is that this technology is powerful,” Feldman said.