
Jack Dorsey’s Block announced a rolling layoff that could trim roughly 10% of its 11,000‑person workforce. The cuts are being framed as performance‑based, yet employees report a crumbling culture, heightened anxiety, and a mandatory shift to generative AI tools. Workers must send weekly status emails to Dorsey, which he then has AI summarize, intensifying pressure to adopt large‑language models. Morale has hit historic lows, with staff fearing further reductions and questioning the merit of the AI‑driven productivity push.

Code Metal, a Boston AI startup, closed a $125 million Series B round, lifting its valuation to $1.25 billion. The company’s platform translates legacy defense software from languages such as Python and C++ into modern, hardware‑specific code while generating test harnesses to catch...