You're halfway through the week, readers. I'm Jordan Parker Erb. Today, we've got a lot of news about, or adjacent to, bots and robots.
First we've got a look at the rise of what some people are calling "Jeff Bots," a term for people who have left Amazon and brought Jeff Bezos' business principles to other companies in the industry — and something that leadership experts say isn't always a good thing.
Plus, we've got news on actual robots, who are threatening to pit humans against machines.
It's a busy day of robots; let's dive in.
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1. Former Amazon leaders have infiltrated the tech industry. That's not always a good thing. Companies love to hire Amazon alumni who inject their firms with Jeff Bezos' metrics-focused style. Leadership consultants say that when Amazon's practices are exported to other workplaces, the results are often a mixed bag, and — at worst — potentially harmful.
- Amazon-trained leaders (sometimes known as "Jeff Bots") have founded more than 650 startups, and swaths have joined the industry's top C-suites, contributing to the "Amazonification" of said firms.
- Some of these Amazon execs turned entrepreneurs put their own unique spin on the company's principles (like tallying the cost of meetings) when they built their own successful startups.
- But effectively copying Amazon's culture depends on factors like a company's mission, its overall culture, and what its growing pains are — and an alum who joins a company and immediately implements Amazon's ways could do more harm than good.
The downsides of Amazonification.
In other news:
2. The coming robot apocalypse threatens to pit humans against machines. For decades, robots have replaced, or at least nudged aside, human labor. Now, humans need to determine how to synchronize our labor with the souls of new machines — before things get out of hand.
3. Netflix returned to growth, adding 2.4 million subscribers globally in the third quarter. The streamer benefitted from popular shows like "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" and the fourth season of "Stranger Things." Netflix also used a chart to throw shade at "House of Dragon" and "Rings of Power" — see that here.
4. A SpaceX engineer suffered a fractured skull during a routine rocket test in January. The worker, a father of three, was "hospitalized in a coma for months" following the incident, according to an OSHA report. Everything we know about the incident.
5. We used data to determine how much Twitter pays its talent. Even as the company deals with an ongoing and bumpy takeover by Elon Musk, data shows Twitter still pays most of its workers, engineers in particular, well into the six figures. See how much Twitter employees are earning.
6. Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new pieces. Artists who spoke with Insider said they spent years on their portfolios, and now, with image generators like OpenAI's DALL-E, people can make copycat images in seconds. Here's what artists told us.
7. We outlined 16 cloud-software companies that could be acquired by tech giants or private-equity firms. According to analysts, companies like Zoom, Splunk, and DropBox could become targets for acquisitions as the economy sours. See the companies most likely to get gobbled up.
8. A timeline of the conflict between Facebook and The Wire. Facebook has been pushing back on reports from The Wire, an Indian news site, that claimed a member of the country's ruling party had the ability to take down posts on Instagram. Here's everything's that happened so far.
Odds and ends:
9. Your choice of emojis may be tanking your chances of finding love. We spoke with five women who use dating apps, who said certain emojis are red flags, and that too many emojis early on can feel lazy, aggressive, or suspicious. Inside the good, the bad, and the cringe of emoji usage.
10. Rolls-Royce has revealed its first electric car. The $400,000 Spectre was designed with inspiration from "modern yacht concepts." Take a look at one of the most luxurious EVs money can buy.
What we're watching today:
- Tesla, IBM, and others are reporting earnings. Keep up with earnings here.
- Spirit Airlines stockholders are scheduled to vote on the proposed merger of the company by JetBlue Airways.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.)