WSJ Tech News Briefing
TNB Tech Minute: Amazon to Lay Off Another 16,000 Corporate Employees
28 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
AI is transforming industries, but the data centers powering it require more energy and water than ever. At the break, join Christoph Beck, Chairman and CEO of Ecolab, for insights on using water effectively while safeguarding this critical resource for future generations.
Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, January 28th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. Amazon said it would cut around 16,000 corporate employees, the latest step in the tech giant's efforts to slim down its workforce. It comes after the first round of cuts in October that laid off about 14,000 white-collar employees.
At the time, people familiar with Amazon's plans said the company was targeting around 30,000 job cuts, or around 10% of the corporate workforce. The company's senior vice president of people experience and technology announced the cuts in a blog post today, saying the layoffs are part of Amazon's strategy to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy.
ASML Holding, the maker of the world's most advanced chipmaking equipment, logged record quarterly orders. It's a sign that spending to produce semiconductors behind the AI boom remains strong. ASML booked orders of about $15.85 billion in the fourth quarter, well above analysts' forecasts. Some of the Dutch company's clients include TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Intel.
Despite record orders and growing sales, ASML said today that it's planning to slash about 1,700 jobs in its tech and IT operations. And we exclusively report that SoftBank Group is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI. That's according to people familiar with the matter. SoftBank already has an 11% stake in OpenAI.
The chat GPT maker is seeking to raise up to $100 billion in new capital, which could value the company at as much as $830 billion. The deal talks are ongoing and terms could still change. That's your TNB Tech Minute. Join us again this afternoon for more.
How are data center operators working to improve sustainability and water savings at every stage of the data center lifecycle? Here's Ecolab's Christoph Beck with some thoughts.
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Chapter 2: What are the reasons behind Amazon's layoffs of 16,000 employees?
The Mach 7 or the Mach 4, the ones that are really so focused on high tech, are the most forward-looking. They have the means, they have the mindset, they have the passion for innovation, and they're really open to try new things as well because everything is new with AI and with that technology as well.
I think even if we're not where we wanted to be with that industry right now, we will be ahead in the next few years because innovation that's coming up right now is working much better than we thought. And it's really thinking in circular ways, being in a data center or in a microchip manufacturing plant.
Learn more about Ecolab at Ecolab.com.
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