Meta’s $10B Cloud Bet, Nvidia’s China Setback, Microsoft on AI Jobs, DeepSeek V3.1, Cisco Layoffs

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Meta signs over $10 billion cloud deal with Google, source says
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• Meta Platforms has agreed to a six-year cloud computing contract with Google Cloud, valued at over $10 billion.

• Meta will use Google’s infrastructure services—including servers, storage, networking—to support its AI infrastructure expansion.

• The move follows Meta raising its capital expenditure forecast to $66–72 billion and seeking partners by offloading $2 billion in data-center assets.

Nvidia looking to halt H20 chip production after China cracks down on purchases
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• Nvidia has instructed component suppliers—including Amkor, Samsung, and Foxconn—to suspend work on its H20 AI chip, a model custom-built for the Chinese market.

• The decision comes after Chinese regulators urged local firms such as Tencent and ByteDance to stop purchasing H20 chips, citing security concerns.

• Nvidia emphasized that the H20 is not intended for military or government use and cited supply-chain management in response to changing market conditions.

Applicability vs. job displacement: further notes on our recent research on AI and occupations
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• Microsoft Research published further reflections on their study "Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI," which explores which jobs AI tools may assist and which jobs might be displaced.

• The blog highlights the nuance between AI applicability and job displacement, aiming to deepen conversation on the future of work.

• The update reflects ongoing engagement with public discussion and research scrutiny on AI’s impact in the workplace.

DeepSeek open-sources new V3.1 model
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• DeepSeek released its V3.1-Base model as open-source on Hugging Face on August 20, featuring around 685 billion parameters and an extended context length of 128K tokens.

• Users can already test the model via the company's website, app, and mini-programs—API usage remains unchanged.

• No release date has been confirmed yet for the subsequent R2 model.

Cisco announces layoffs days after CEO said it won’t cut jobs in favor of AI
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• Cisco is cutting about 7% of its workforce—a move that follows a previous 5% reduction in February 2024 aimed at shareholder returns.

• Although its CFO characterized prior job cuts as “reallocation” rather than cost-saving, the latest layoffs are under legal review: a law firm is investigating whether Cisco violated the WARN Act by giving affected employees only short notice.

• Meanwhile, Cisco reported $800 million in AI-related revenue for Q4 of fiscal year 2025, bringing its total AI revenue for the year to $2.1 billion.