Apple staff decry hybrid pilot as driven by fear; Google fires another AI researcher; Zepto, Traceable, Toplyne, and Kaleidofin raise funding

A group of Apple employees, calling itself Apple Together, has opposed the company’s ‘hybrid working pilot’ return-to-office policy as a measure that actually kills flexibility, even diversity, and perpetuates a culture of working in silos. Google has sacked another AI researcher for questioning its science, NYT reports. And investors pour hundreds of millions more into Indian startups. Notes: A group of Apple employees calling itself Apple Together has opposed the company’s ‘hybrid working pilot’ return-to-office policy, first announced last year and being implemented from April, as a measure that actually kills flexibility and even diversity and perpetuates a culture of working in silos. In an open letter published last week, the group said the policy is really motivated by fear. “You have characterised the decision for the Hybrid Working Pilot as being about combining the 'need to commune in-person' and the value of flexible work," the letter says. "But in reality, it does not recognise flexible work and is only driven by fear. Fear of the future of work, fear of worker autonomy, fear of losing control.” Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the policy mid-last-year, requiring staff to return to offices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and work from home or remotely available on the other two days. “Office-bound work is a technology from the last century, from the era before ubiquitous video-call-capable internet and everyone being on the same internal chat application. But the future is about connecting when it makes sense, with people who have relevant input, no matter where they are based,” the group said. Google has fired another top AI researcher from its Google Brain unit, less than two years after it dismissed two researchers who criticised the biases built into artificial intelligence systems, New York Times reports. The company has fired Satrajit Chatterjee, who questioned a paper it published on the abilities of a specialised type of AI used in making computer chips. Chatterjee led a team of scientists in challenging the acclaimed research paper, which appeared last year in the scientific journal Nature that said computers were able to design certain parts of a computer chip faster and better than humans, according to the New York Times. Chatterjee was fired in March, shortly after Google told his team that it would not publish a paper that rebutted some of the claims made in Nature. Google confirmed his dismissal to the New York Times and defended its decision to not publish his team’s paper, according to the report. Zepto, a quick delivery service for groceries started by two Stanford dropouts, has raised $200 million in its Series D funding, valuing the company at around $900 million. Traceable AI, an API security and observability company, has raised $60 million in Series B funding, valuing the venture at more than $450 million. Toplyne, a SaaS platform provider that helps companies to monetise their product-led growth, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India, and existing investors including Together Fund. Kaleidofin, a fintech company, has announced a second close to its $15 million Series B equity round led by Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds