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Electric-truck maker Rivian is laying off another 600 people, or about 4% of its workforce as the global demand for electric vehicles decreases, the Wall Street Journal reported. This follows a previous round of layoffs in 2024. Rivian is one of a number of technology and media companies that have seen layoffs in October, including: Meta, Paycom, Charter, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, October 2025 is no outlier. From technology companies to media conglomerates, the layoffs are part of a trend in both the U.S. and Europe as companies start to slash staff and downsize. Some are blaming artificial intelligence (AI), though critics say it’s just an excuse for companies to trim staff. The layoffs could also be way to hedge against the current economic uncertainty triggered by inflation, tariffs, the skyrocketing cost of living, and now an ongoing federal government shutdown. Below are some of the tech and media companies that have been laying off workers since the beginning of the month. Fast Company has reached out to all of the companies listed below for comment. Rivian On Thursday, there was news that Rivian was laying off about 4% of its workforce, after a previous smaller layoff affecting some 1.5% of the company last month. Rivian, like many EV manufacturers, is expected to see EV sales decline in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to end a hefty federal tax credit for EV purchases. Rivian is also planning to launch a new vehicle in 2026, according to the Wall Street Journal. Meta On Wednesday, Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp, said it is laying off about 600 employees from Alexandr Wangs new superintelligence research lab, after hiring the 25-year-old wunderkind and investing $14.3 billion in his company, Scale AI, in June. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social technology company plans to invest between $60 billion and $65 billion in AI capital expenditures in 2025 alone. Paycom Earlier this month, Oklahoma City-based payroll and human resources software company Paycom laid off more than 500 employees, citing workforce restructuring due to efficiencies in advanced automation and AI-driven technologies that will impact a limited number of back-office roles. Charter Cable and broadband giant Charter Communications said on Wednesday that to streamline operations, it was laying off some 1,200 employees, or just over 1% of its 95,000-person workforce, mostly in corporate management and back-office roles. The roles would not be in sales or service positions. The company lost 117,000 internet customers in Q2, and 60,000 in Q1, amid growing competition from mobile providers, per Reuters. NBC News Meanwhile, NBC News is laying off about 7% of its staff, or 150 people, in cuts that started rolling out last week on October 15. The cuts come ahead of a split and rebrand from cable news network MSNBC, which will now be called MS NOW (which stands for “My Source for News, Opinion, and the World”). The move is part of a larger spin-off from parent company Comcast, which also includes CNBC and USA Network. The Wall Street Journal Also this month, the Wall Street Journal laid off a dozen reporters and editors from its education, health, and science news teams, citing structural changes. I recognize that change can be unsettling, editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in a staff memo. I want to thank them for them for their many contributions to the Journal, particularly Stefanie Ilgenfritz [who] has spent more than 35 years at the Journal and has helped shape distinctive and consequential journalism, including a series on Medicare fraud that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015.
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Tesla is recalling more than 63,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. because the front lights are too bright, which may cause a distraction to other drivers and increase the risk of a collision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the recall includes certain Cybertrucks with a model year between 2024 and 2026. The vehicles were made between Nov. 13, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2025, with operating software versions prior to 2025.38.3. The agency said that Tesla is not aware of any collisions, injuries, or fatalities related to the condition. Tesla, which is run by billionaire Elon Musk, is issuing a free software update to correct the issue. Earlier this month, federal regulators opened yet another investigation into Teslas self-driving feature after dozens of incidents in which the cars ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road, sometimes crashing into other vehicles and causing injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing that it was looking into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using the companys so-called Full Self-Driving mode, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries. The new probe adds to several other open investigations into Tesla technology that could upend Musks plans to turn millions of his cars already on the road into completely driverless vehicles with an over-the-air update to their software. In March, U.S. safety regulators recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road. The NHTSA’s recall, which covered more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash. On Wednesday, Tesla reported a fourth straight decline in quarterly profit, even as sales rose. The automaker reported third-quarter earnings plunged 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the fourth quarter in a row that profit dropped. And even the revenue rise, a welcome relief from a sales plunge earlier in the year due to anti-Musk boycotts, came with a significant caveat: Customers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expired on Oct. 1, possibly stealing sales from the current quarter. Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
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Personalized vaccines that steer the immune system to fight unique cancer cells show promise, but another powerful way to treat cancer might be hiding in plain sight. People being treated for advanced skin and lung cancer lived longer if they had received a Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Both vaccines work using mRNA, which prompts cells to make a virus-like protein that triggers a useful immune response and teaches the body how to protect itself. When a team working to develop personalized mRNA cancer vaccines found that those vaccines were mostly effective due to the broad immune response they promptednot their custom-built naturethey decided to see how well widely available mRNA vaccines worked at the same task. The team analyzed records from almost 1,000 advanced cancer patients at Houstons MD Anderson Cancer Center, comparing outcomes between people that had received one of the two COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and those who hadnt. They found that lung cancer patients vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna shot lived almost twice as long after starting cancer treatment. Patients with aggressive melanoma who received an mRNA vaccine also showed improved outcomes, but people in that group lived for so long their average survival time couldnt be determined in the study. Non-mRNA vaccines like those used for the flu did not show the same positive effect. The patients with the biggest benefit were given the vaccine within 100 days of beginning the immunotherapy known as checkpoint treatment and those whose cancer looked the least likely to respond well to treatment. The research team believes that the immune response from mRNA vaccines sets up the immune system for more effective checkpoint treatment, which instructs T cells to work overtime to hunt down cancer in the body. The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine acts like a siren and activates the immune system throughout the entire body Adam Grippin, co-author and radiation oncologist at MD Anderson told Nature. … We were amazed at the results in our patients. Defunding the future Future research will continue to explore the powerful potential of mRNA vaccines to fight cancer, but the path wont be easy. Science funding in the U.S. has taken a massive hit across the board under the second Trump administration, but the situation is especially grim for mRNA research. In August, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the government would cancel $500 million in federal funds for mRNA vaccine research, throttling one of the most promising lanes of research with life-saving potential for everything from future pandemics to cancer and HIV. In a video explaining the decision to slash mRNA research, Kennedy announced that he believed science using mRNA poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses and HHS would be moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions.” During Operation Warp Speed, the vaccine development program during Trumps first term lauded even by his critics, the president hailed Pfizers mRNA vaccine as a medical miracle. This is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history, Trump said at the time. Experts across the medical world agree, with epidemiologists issuing particularly dire warnings about Americas future without mRNA research. There is no upside, Harvard Professor of Epidemiology Bill Hanage said of the cuts to mRNA vaccine development. There is only downside. We would be fighting any future pandemic with one hand tied behind our back.
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