Fresh from telling laid-off employees to console themselves with AI, Microsoft doubles down by advertising Xbox jobs with pathetic AI image: 'So tone deaf I hope it is satire'
The rollicking clown car that is Microsoft corporate leadership has outdone itself once again. Earlier this month Phil Spencer said Microsoft's gaming business has "never looked stronger" as he announced mass layoffs, which was swiftly followed up by an Xbox exec suggesting that affected employees use AI to console themselves. And now?
A round of slow claps for Xbox's principle development lead Mike Matsel, another victim of terminal LinkedIn brain, who took to the social networking site this past weekend to announce some good news: we're hiring! Except…
The post comes with an image that is clearly AI-generated (first spotted by Eurogamer). It shows a cartoon image of a woman smiling and wearing headphones in front of a PC: but look closer and you'll notice that this PC is very special, because the display is on the back of the monitor. Then you notice her eyes aren't on the front of the monitor either (I guess there's not much to see), and she's just staring gormlessly over the top and into the distance.
The more you look the worse it gets: the shading on her top is all sorts of wrong; the keyboard just seems to have randomly shaped blocks rather than resembling a keyboard; there's a weird little divot between the thumb and index finger on the left hand. In other words, this is a classic AI-generated image, aka slop.
The thing is, this is being posted by a senior figure at Xbox and is explicitly about hiring graphics designers. You'd think that might earn a bespoke visual for any hiring push. Tempting as it may be to dunk on Matsel, the guy also may be trying to keep his own job: Microsoft has said "AI is no longer optional" for its staff, and employees are being evaluated on how they use these tools.
The first reply to the post is, appropriately enough, a poop emoji. "This is so tone deaf that I hope that it is satire," replies Kevin Catarino. "Does everyone left at Xbox have brain damage," wonders Rick Desilets. "Are you seriously posting a job ad for Xbox Graphics using this AI garbage? It looks like shit, man, what is happening over there?"
"AI is a billion dollar industry, a lot of money and resources have been poured into this, and this is the result of it," says Joseph M. "My god, I don't believe in AI and I never will. It's not worth the hype or money. You could have just hired someone for cheap looking for help with their portfolio to do a much better job than this."
Microsoft's latest cuts were a real bloodbath, with studios like The Initiative closed and several high-profile Xbox exclusives cancelled, including Rare's Everwild, an unannounced Zenimax MMO, and the excellent-looking Perfect Dark reboot. Since the start of 2023, Microsoft has fired over 20,000 people. It's also announced that it plans to spend $80 billion on AI this year. Well: I hope you all like hot garbage. Because right now, that's sure looking like the future of Xbox.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
16 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
JPMorgan Closes $210 Million Carbon Loan to Draw New Investors
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has helped structure a first-of-its-kind lending facility for a developer of carbon credits that it hopes will lower the cost of capital and attract institutional investors to a market that's struggled to grow amid a series of missteps and corporate apathy on climate action. The US bank, together with a syndicate of smaller lenders, closed a $210 million loan deal that will enable carbon developer Chestnut Carbon to meet its obligations under a 25-year agreement to generate credits from forestry projects in Arkansas and Texas, and deliver them to Microsoft Corp. The loan represents the first time traditional project-finance techniques have been applied to a US carbon-credit project and is an important step to help draw investors to the market, Chestnut said in a statement on Tuesday. The voluntary market for carbon credits, though touted by advocates as an important weapon in the fight against climate change and a critical vehicle for transmitting money from wealthy countries in the northern hemisphere to the global south, remains so small as to be a rounding error in the context of global capital markets. Still, a handful of deep-pocketed corporations are working to help it grow: Microsoft has signed scores of long-term carbon removal contracts, such as the one with Chestnut, while JPMorgan has said it wants to be the ' carbon bank of choice.'
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China's YMTC moves to break free of U.S. sanctions by building production line with homegrown tools — aims to capture 15% of NAND market by late 2026
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), China's leading producer of NAND memory, has been on the Entity List of the U.S. Commerce Department since late 2022, which essentially bars its access to advanced fab tools. Despite sanctions and restrictions, YMTC plans to expand its production capacity this year, aiming to capture a 15% share of NAND memory production by the end of 2026, reports DigiTimes. The company also plans to build a trial production line that exclusively uses Chinese fab tools. YMTC to expand capacity to 150,000 wafer starts per month YMTC was expected to reach a monthly capacity of 130,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM) by the end of 2024, which equates to roughly 8% of the worldwide NAND supply, according to DigiTimes. While YMTC's abilities to procure fab tools from leading producers, such as ASML, Applied Materials, KLA, and LAM Research are extremely limited, the company still plans to increase its production capacity to around 150,000 WSPM. Earlier this year, the company began mass production of its X4-9070 3D TLC NAND memory, featuring 232 active layers and a total of 294 active layers. The company's 5th Generation NAND memory bonds two structures containing 150 and 144 layers together to achieve a total of 294 layers. The increased output, combined with the increased number of layers (or gates per vertical NAND string), effectively increases NAND memory bit output for YMTC. However, it remains to be seen whether such a strategy can enable the company to double its market share and achieve 15% of the global NAND output by late 2026. Unlike other global NAND suppliers, who are cutting production and investment due to soft demand and pricing pressure, YMTC continues to expand. Bit growth across the industry is forecast to rise by about 10% to 15% in 2025, but YMTC is expected to ramp up its bit growth aggressively. In addition to its flagship 1TB 3D TLC X4-9070 device with a 3600 MT/s interface, the company intends to release its 3D QLC X4-6080 device later this year. We do not know how many active layers this device will use, though it is more than likely that it will retain the 294-layer production technology. Next year, the company will introduce its 2TB 3D TLC X5-9080 device, as well as a 3D QLC X5-6080 device with a 4800 MT/s interface. The 2TB NAND device will enable YMTC to build high-capacity SSDs with very high performance. Though it remains to be seen whether the company can produce enough of these particular chips. YMTC's next-generation node will likely use more than 300 layers and will likely require the company to bond three 3D NAND structures together. This means that wafers will spend more time in the fab, therefore reducing the number of wafer starts per month, but increasing bit output. A new hope? Under the export rules imposed in late 2022, American companies cannot ship tools that can be used to make 3D NAND memory with over 128 layers to Chinese entities. Of course, the U.S. government cannot ban the usage of string stacking (the technology used by YMTC to build its 232L 3D NAND), so YMTC can continue scaling its 3D NAND using American tools. However, the U.S. Department of Commerce put YMTC into its Entity List in December 2022, which means that American companies should get an export license from the Department of Commerce to sell tools to the Chinese company. We do not know whether or not YMTC managed to acquire any new American tools after 2022, but the NAND flash producer plans to begin trial production on a new manufacturing line built entirely with domestically developed equipment in the second half of 2025, according to DigiTimes. This marks a major step forward in China's goal to reduce reliance on foreign semiconductor production tools. However, a 100% localization of fab tools is well beyond what analysts may think is possible for Chinese chipmakers today. Looking ahead, YMTC is expected to account for approximately 30% of China's NAND consumption in 2025, but its output still falls short of national demand. The upcoming trial line is expected to help YMTC ease output constraints, even though yield levels are a major concern, due to Chinese tools being known for lower yields when compared to their American, Japanese, or European counterparts. Analysts believe YMTC's new production line, which exclusively uses Chinese fab tools, could lead to a doubling of YMTC's bit output by the end of 2026, potentially pushing its share of the global NAND market beyond 15%. However, these predictions may be too optimistic, as the new production line will be a trial intended to test the capabilities of tools made in China, not to produce 3D NAND devices in high volume. If YMTC's trial production line results end up being promising, it could scale it to build flash memory chips at volume. However, scaling up will require a lot of time, so YMTC's aspirations of capturing 15% of the NAND market by late 2026 remain optimistic. It is believed that if YMTC's production capacity exceeds 200,000 WSPM, this could also influence global pricing trends. YMTC already leads transition to domestic tools YMTC stands out as the clear leader in China's semiconductor equipment localization efforts, with an adoption rate of 45%, far exceeding both the national average and other major domestic fabs, according to estimates from Morgan Stanley. This aggressive push aligns with its strategic goal of building fully self-reliant NAND production lines amid tightening U.S. export controls. However, a 45% adoption rate is considerably lower than 100%. Among YMTC's domestic suppliers are AMEC (etching tools, chemical vapor deposition tools), Naura Technology (etching tools, CVD tools), and Piotech (atomic layer deposition tools, CVD tools). While Chinese companies are known for world-class etching and deposition tools, it is unclear whether YMTC can source lithography tools that it needs from local suppliers. For now, the best Chinese lithography tool is currently produced in high volume by Shanghai Microelectronics Equipment (SMEE). The SSX600 from SMEE can make logic chips on a 90nm process technology, though it is working on more advanced tools. Other major Chinese chipmakers are progressing with equipment localization more cautiously, and at a significantly lower pace compared to YMTC. SMIC, China's largest foundry, shows a 22% localization rate at its Jingcheng fab, and 18% at its Lingang fab. These results reflect the gradual substitution of foreign tools, likely limited by reliance on advanced lithography systems that China cannot yet produce domestically. Hua Hong (Fab 9) and CXMT, a DRAM manufacturer, both report 20% localization, signaling steady but conservative integration of domestic equipment, especially in mature-node manufacturing where localization is more feasible. YMTC's investment arm, Changjiang Capital, has quietly funded a number of local tool and material suppliers, specifically those tied to its own production network. To avoid attracting unwanted attention from U.S. authorities, these investments are often routed through non-listed or indirect entities. Suppliers have also reportedly been instructed to strip their badges from equipment. While Chinese chipmakers are making incremental progress, their localization levels remain clustered in the 15% – 27% range — well below YMTC's 45% — highlighting the complexity of replacing foreign wafer fab equipment. That said, YMTC's plan to localize 100% of their tools looks unrealistic for now, despite their lofty goals. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Researchers pack a "quantum light factory" into a 1mm² CMOS chip — combines photonics, electronics, and quantum hardware with traditional silicon manufacturing that can achieve mass scale
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers from Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern University have created something that sounds straight out of a sci-fi movie: a 'quantum light factory' squeezed onto a 1 mm² silicon chip. Built using a standard 45 nm CMOS manufacturing process—the same kind used for standard x86 and ARM processors—this breakthrough brings quantum hardware a step closer to the world of mass production. The work, published in Nature Electronic, could pave the way for scalable quantum computing that doesn't require exotic setups, instead relying on mass production techniques that we already employ today. Think of this chip as a prototype for a future quantum factory line. It packs 12 tiny silicon loops, called "microring resonators," each acting as a generator of photon pairs with special quantum properties. These photon pairs are the lifeblood of many quantum technologies, but producing them usually requires fragile lab setups. Here, they're generated directly on a chip no bigger than a fingernail. What makes this remarkable is that the chip doesn't just produce quantum light; it's more about keeping that light stable. Microring resonators are powerful but temperamental—small temperature changes or manufacturing quirks can throw them out of tune, halting the photon flow. To solve this, the researchers built a feedback system directly into the chip; each resonator has a tiny photodiode to monitor its performance, along with miniature heaters and control circuits that adjust it on the fly. This self-tuning approach means all 12 resonators can work together in perfect sync, without the bulky stabilization equipment usually needed. 'This is a small step, but an important one,' said Miloš Popović, associate professor at Boston University and one of the senior authors. 'It shows we can build repeatable, controllable quantum systems in commercial semiconductor foundries.' That's the real story here—this isn't just a niche, bleeding-edge lab demo, but proof that quantum chips can be made with the same industrial techniques used to build CPUs and GPUs. Of course, quantum computing is nowhere near the maturity of standard semiconductors powering our devices today, but this is a step closer to that eventuality. Let's talk about the most important revelation. The team's choice of CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a game-changer. CMOS is the backbone of modern electronics, used by companies like TSMC to mass-produce everything from smartphones to supercomputers. While the 45 nm node used here isn't cutting-edge, it's proven, cost-effective, and compatible with the vast infrastructure of silicon manufacturing. The chip was built using a platform co-developed with GlobalFoundries and Ayar Labs, a company already leading the charge in optical interconnects for AI and high-performance computing. This overlap with the AI world is no coincidence. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently called out microring resonators—like those on this chip—as key components for scaling AI hardware via optical connections. This new research shows that the same photonics technology could also unlock scalable quantum systems. It's not hard to imagine a future where quantum and AI hardware share similar silicon platforms. Moreover, Nvidia is already heavily investing in this field, so we can only expect development to ramp up. The term 'quantum light factory' isn't just for flair, either. Just as classical chips rely on streams of electrons and optical networks depend on laser light, future quantum technologies will need a steady supply of quantum light. By proving that these quantum light sources can be built, stabilized, and replicated on silicon, the team has shown that quantum hardware can move beyond one-off experiments and into something that can be scaled like traditional computing. Some of the researchers involved are already taking this expertise into industry roles. Team members have joined companies like PsiQuantum, Ayar Labs, and Google X, all of which are betting heavily on photonic and quantum technologies. It's another sign that this field is moving rapidly from academic research to real-world products, even if they're sometimes more fun-oriented than revolutionary. Backed by the National Science Foundation's Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program, the Packard Fellowship, and the Catalyst Foundation, the project shows how far interdisciplinary collaboration can go. Photonics, electronics, and quantum optics are worlds apart, but this chip proves they can be brought together on a commercial platform. If Intel's 4004 microprocessor marked the start of mass-produced computing power, this 1 mm² quantum light factory could be remembered as the first step toward mass-produced quantum hardware. What once needed an entire lab bench now fits onto a silicon wafer—and that's a leap worth paying attention to. Who knows? Maybe a decade from now, you'll be seeing a new TSMC competing for quantum computing excellence, especially now that there's already an operating system for it out there. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
