Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

Cisco Systems to lay off more than 4,000 workers

SAN FRANCISCO | Internet networking pioneer Cisco Systems is jettisoning more than 4,000 employees, joining the parade of technology companies in a trend that has helped boost their profits and stock prices while providing a sobering reminder of the job insecurity hanging over an industry increasingly embracing artificial intelligence.

The mass layoffs announced Wednesday in conjunction with Cisco’s latest quarterly results represent about 5% of its worldwide workforce of 84,900. The purge follows Cisco’s late 2022 cutbacks that shed 5,000 workers and ahead of its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a deal that management now expects to complete by April 30. Cisco — a company best known for making much of the technology that connects the internet — expects its reorganization to cost an additional $800 million.

Mexican regulators tell Amazon to reveal algorithms, open up delivery

MEXICO CITY | Mexican regulators have ordered online retailers Amazon and Mercado Libre to reveal their algorithms and to wall off TV streaming to avoid stifling competition.

Mexico’s Federal Commission on Economic Competition, known by its initials as COFECE, said in a preliminary finding late Tuesday that the two firms control 85% of online sales in Mexico.

It said that market dominance created “an absence of real competitive conditions in the online retail market.” For Amazon, the finding was the latest in a string of regulatory challenges it has faced in its countries of operation.

The COFECE order also covers the biggest Latin American online retailer, the Uruguay-based firm Mercado Libre.

Dating apps encourage ‘compulsive’ use, lawsuit claims

Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps are designed with addictive features that encourage compulsive use. That’s according to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed against parent company Match Group.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California on Wednesday says Match intentionally designs its dating platforms with game-like features that lock users into a perpetual pay-to-play loop prioritizing profit over promises to help users find relationships.

This, the suit claims, turns users into addicts who purchase ever-more-expensive subscriptions to access special features that promise romance and matches.

—From AP reports