In the battle of AI vs humans, humans just lost another round. Amazon has announced that it's laying off a whopping 14,000 corporate workers as it accelerates its AI push.
And that's just one of the biggest tech headlines we're following today here at Tom's Guide.
We may have just gotten our first look at the Samsung Galaxy Tri-Fold, which has already been tipped to launch this year. Meanwhile, OpenAI is being attacked on multiple fronts from both Anthropic and Google Gemini. And we're tracking the best early Black Friday tech deals, including 50% off sales at Amazon and Walmart.
Here's the biggest tech news you need to know right now, with updates all day as new stories break.
Today's tech news — Live updates as they happen
Samsung Tri-fold leaks in full
Samsung hasn't done the best job keeping its tri-fold smartphone under wraps. It seems like once a week, something significant comes out, telling us more about the device. It's almost like the company could be drip-feeding information to build anticipation. Or it just has a leaker putting information out to the world.
The latest leak provides a full first look at the Samsung Galaxy Tri-Fold. Noted leaker Ice Universe shared the latest images, which show off Samsung's worst-kept secret: the full-triple-screen display and the folded version of the phone.
And it's not just one leak. Korean news outlet Dailian also published what appear to be images of the same large-screen device, while Android Authority found a video of the same display that has a watermark from an unknown Weibo account. Three leaks in one day for the same device is quite impressive and might be the most I've ever seen — and it's still early in the morning in the U.S.
In the video, we can see the device unfold from the middle panel and fold back in on itself. It's a design I wasn't quite expecting, but it's interesting nevertheless.
We'll have to wait for Samsung to officially announce the device to know for sure if what we're seeing here is real, but for the time being, it all looks legitimate enough, especially with reliable sources like IceUniverse and Android Authority providing the leaks.
Could OpenAI lose the AI race?
As unlikely as it seems, OpenAI appears to be losing the AI race to Anthropic, as the underdog appears to be on the rise. Anthropic and its Claude chatbot may keep a lower profile than OpenAI's ChatGPT, but don't let that fool you — it's a serious contender in the space.
Instead of image generation and videos, Anthropic focuses on like vibe coding (writing code with AI prompts), logical reasoning, and helping to perfect academic writing. They're very different use cases, but it seems to be helping Anthropic move ahead in some big ways.
What really separates the two companies is where their income comes from — OpenAI gets as much as 70% of its revenue from consumers. Anthropic, on the other hand, has stated that roughly 80% of its revenue comes from corporate partners. Those are very different business models.
And with those business models, Anthropic has a run rate of $7 billion, compared to OpenAI’s $9 billion by the end of this year. Even though Anthropic is smaller, it's making massive profits with its business partnerships.
Because OpenAI relies on a more fickle public, it needs to develop new tools, features, and add-ons. Compared to Anthropic, the company consistently releases new features for ChatGPT while Claude sees a much slower rollout.
It might not be a flashy approach, or one that draws the same attention as OpenAI, but Anthropic might have the answer many companies are looking for: how do you make money in the world of AI? The answer could be business-to-business.
AI is taking jobs at Amazon
Amazon is set to make 14,000 humans redundant as it "innovates much faster" thanks to AI. That's a lot of jobs lost to AI, which is a fear many people have expressed as AI becomes smarter and more useful.
These cuts are believed to be focused on Amazon's corporate roles rather than on warehouse or delivery staff, and they take hold as the company looks to streamline its operations through the power of AI.
A memo to Amazon staff from Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, shared the bad news.
"Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well," she wrote.
"What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones)," the memo continued.
"We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business."
As nice as it sounds to "remember that the world is changing," that doesn't help the 14,000 people who are or will be jobless in the near future. On the bright side, the company says it will give affected employees 90 days to find a new role, and those unable to do so will receive severance pay, outplacement services, and health insurance benefits. While this will soften the blow compared to some layoffs where no extra time is given, it's still going to put a strain the job market and cause tremendous stress for the affected individuals.
iPhone 18 — a reason to go pro
We're only a month into the iPhone 17's life, but that hasn't stopped leakers from already releasing information about the iPhone 18. According to leaker Digital Chat Station, a variable aperture camera could be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, the game-changing camera feature may not be available on the iPhone 18 Pro as rumors previously suggested.
Generally, Apple keeps the differences between the Pro and Pro Max pretty subtle, focusing more on size than features (this isn't always the case, but in recent models it has been). For such a huge camera feature to be left behind would be surprising. Of course, we're almost a year away from the phones launching, so anything could change between now and then.
Variable aperture means the user can adjust the amount of light entering the camera lens, which can be a big upgrade for photographs.
New Fitbit on the way
Google has said that Fitbit is working on new hardware with a 2026 release window. Additionally, the Fitbit app is getting a massive AI overhaul, which should come as no surprise.
When Google says new Fitbit hardware is coming, does that mean an update to an existing Fitbit model, or an entirely new Fitbit form factor? Time will tell, but it's likely an update of an existing model.
The app update sounds promising, seamlessly integrating a Gemini-powered AI wellness coach into a more visually appealing platform with friendlier graphs, more intelligently organized data, and enhanced user customization.
Nvidia live news
If you can't get enough live news, we're also covering the Nvidia GTC event live. The Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will share what’s next for AI, robotics and GPUs, so exciting things are ahead.
Specifics of GTC announcements are kept pretty secret until Jensen takes the stage. But as we've learnt from the past three keynotes, it's worth paying attention to where the $4 trillion is right now — both in product development and (specifically) the location where the keynote is being held.
No more buttons on iPhone?!
This is a bit of news I didn't expect to see, but according to a new report from leaker Instant Digital, Apple might ditch the button on the 20th-anniversary iPhone. The company will instead use haptics to perform the same functions that buttons would.
The leak says that Apple's solid-state button design has completed functional verification. The update would replace the Side button, volume buttons, Action button, and Camera Control button with haptic feedback.
If this rumor is correct, the current design will integrate buttons directly into the device frame with zero physical movement when pressed. However, the report also says that Apple wants to make these buttons feel like real buttons, using the back panel or frame to produce audio, combined with an AI-based sound compensation algorithm.
It sounds interesting, and it could open the door to a wraparound display. It could also be annoying for those used to real buttons, depending on how well Apple makes it feel authentic.
Gemini also catching ChatGPT
Google has made significant improvements to Gemini recently. As such, the chatbot is rapidly becoming more popular. In fact, Google's Gemini domain, gemini.google.com, has more than doubled over the past year, according to new data from data aggregation company Similarweb.
In total, the Gemini webpage now makes 12.9% of total web traffic to generative AI tools. That's bumped from 6.4% in 2024.
And as good as that sounds, ChatGPT makes 74% of total chatbot web traffic, absolutely dwarfing Google and all of the other big players in the space. But doubling the views is nothing to scoff at, and it shows that at least some users are willing to migrate if they don't like ChatGPT's results.
Traffic to xAI's Grok has dropped from 3.1% to 2%. While it's a small amount, when the service was already so low in total traffic to begin with, it's almost certainly noticeable for the Musk-backed AI tool. Microsoft Copilot hasn't changed much, currently accounting for 1.2% of total generative AI traffic according to Similarweb's data..
Pro iPad apps
The iPad looks to be receiving some new apps in the near future, as a rumor has emerged suggesting that Apple plans to release four new apps targeted at pro users.
According to a report from MacRumors, four apps have "new App Store IDs," which is usually a sign that they're on the way.
Here are the apps:
- Compressor: A tool for media encoding and delivery used to customize how media is exported in Final Cut
- Motion: A motion graphics tool for creating titles, transitions, and visual effects that work with Final Cut
- MainStage: A companion app for Logic Pro used for live performances and customizable on-stage instrument and vocal setups
- Pixelmator Pro: An upgrade to the free Pixelmator iPad app with features more like the Mac version.
While the clues are there for the app names and functions, there's no rumored date for these apps to hit iPad but we'll keep an eye out for you.
Biggest story so far?
Galaxy Z Fold8 details potentially emerge
If you're looking forward to Samsung's next round of foldable phones, you have a bit of waiting left to do. But if you're starved for details, the latest leak provides specs on the screen and battery capacity, both critical to the phone's performance.
The leak (via GSM Arena) suggests that Samsung will use a new ‘laser-drilling metal plate technology’ for the Galaxy Z Fold8's hinge, which could reduce the crease, one of the things holding many back from adopting the foldable lifestyle.
The rumor claims the battery will be more than 5,000 mAh, a significant bump from the Galaxy Z Fold7's 4,400 mAh cell.
