Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Drones, AI and Robot Pickers: Meet the Fully Autonomous Farm New technologies are paving the way for farms that can run themselves, with minimal human input

Drones, AI and robot pickers: meet the fully autonomous farm www.wsj.com/tech/autonom...

Samsung is desperate to compete on chips. Workers say it comes at a cost. Scarred by long hours, low pay, and a hostile work culture, many chip workers are leaving for competitors, including American companies.

Scarred by long hours, low pay, and a hostile work culture, many chip workers for Samsung are leaving for competitors, including American companies.

Michelle Kim's reporting from Seoul for @restofworld.org

restofworld.org/2025/samsung...

Workers describe abusive treatment in Taiwan’s semiconductor factories A record number of people are leaving the Philippines to work in Taiwanese factories, where they face long shifts, low pay, and unequal treatment.

A record number of people are leaving the Philippines to work in Taiwanese semiconductor factories, where they face long shifts, low pay, unequal treatment and the threat of deportation, report Hsiuwen Liu and @michaelbeltran.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/filipin...

VC money is fueling a global boom in worker surveillance tech A funding surge has given rise to technologies to track, analyze and manage workers — often in countries with little regulation.

Your next boss might be an app.

Read @gayathriv.bsky.social on how VC money is fueling a global boom in worker surveillance tech
restofworld.org/2025/employe...

In Dubai’s AI job market, your passport matters Western job seekers see lucrative offers in the booming AI hub, while others deal with rejections and lower pay.

In Dubai’s AI gold rush, tech workers from the West are often headhunted for top positions at high salaries. Experienced AI experts from South Asia and Ukraine fill the lower ranks, for lower pay.

Our new story:
restofworld.org/2025/golden-...

Taiwan’s chip plants run on migrant workers. Job brokers run their lives In Taiwan’s AI-fueled chip boom, brokers control everything from paychecks to dorm beds, leaving workers feeling trapped and exploited.

Taiwan has recruited a record number of people from nearby nations to meet the surge in demand for chips for AI. These workers are usually represented by brokers, who have so much control over their lives that many migrants feel trapped and exploited
restofworld.org/2025/taiwan-...

The math tutor and the missing $533 million From Dubai, the enigmatic founder of Byju’s recounts how he made his empire — and vows to rebuild it.

Byju Raveendran, India’s edtech titan, is facing a $533M fraud scandal. From Dubai, the enigmatic founder of Byju’s recounts how he made his empire — and vows to rebuild it. @yudhijit.bsky.social reports for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/byjus-o...

Speaking of scams: @restofworld.org reports that young Indonesians who think they are applying for tech jobs are being trafficked to scam farms, where they are forced to use AI-generated deepfakes, voice clones, and other tech to con people out of their savings. restofworld.org/2025/fake-jo...

I'm not Indonesian but I live in SEA and KEEP getting these really weird tech interview offers. I always ask them to email if they are serious, and either they disappear, and the next day, the account is deleted, or they say "later, after you've interviewed, we'll email"

How phony job ads on Facebook and Telegram lure tech workers to scam compounds Young Indonesians looking for jobs abroad are trafficked to fortified scam centers, where they are forced to weaponize AI chatbots and deepfakes.

Young Indonesians are increasingly falling for fraudulent job ads on Telegram and Facebook, and getting trafficked to scam farms in Southeast Asia. Once there, they are forced to use AI to con people into parting with their life savings
restofworld.org/2025/fake-jo...

Why AI advancement doesn’t have to come at the expense of marginalized workers In her new book, Empire of AI, Karen Hao insists that AI companies don’t have to choose between exploiting workers and chasing growth.

Progress does not have to involve gobbling up all the content on the internet and hiring marginalized workers to process it -
@_KarenHao, author of Empire of AI (out soon!).

Here's a Q&A with @michelletomkim - restofworld.org/2025/karen-h...

Robot chefs take over at South Korea’s highway restaurants, to mixed reviews Automation is posed as a labor shortage solution, but workers say robots are making their jobs — and food — worse.

Robot chefs are replacing humans at some South Korean restaurants. Tech companies say robots can help solve labor shortages in the aging country, but workers say they've been demoted from chefs to cleaning staff, and diners are complaining about the food.

Full story: restofworld.org/2025/robot-c...

What Meta’s dispute in Nigeria means for its millions of users Facing a penalty for data breaches, the social media giant is threatening to pull WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram from Africa's most populous nation.

Facing a penalty for data breaches, Meta is threatening to pull WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram from Nigeria

New from @tarykuh.bsky.social:
restofworld.org/2025/meta-ni...

Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.

Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project. nymag.com/intelligence...

Kidfluencers’ dreams of wealth clash with Brazil’s labor laws Young Brazilians chase social media fame, selling “get-rich” schemes, while legal battles question platform responsibility and the cost to childhood.

Our very own @deeplab.bsky.social
Wagner Alves da Silva, is featured in this brilliant Rest of World article on Brazil’s child influencer industry.

restofworld.org/2025/brazil-...

Brazil is going after social media sites to keep its kids safe Young Brazilians chase social media fame, selling “get-rich” schemes, while legal battles question platform responsibility and the cost to childhood.

Who's watching out for the kidfluencers?

Prosecutors in Brazil are going after TikTok for allowing child labor on the app
restofworld.org/2025/brazil-...

Venezuelan migrants relied on clickwork to survive. Now AI is replacing them Venezuela has long provided the tech industry with cheap, educated workers. But with the rise of generative AI, jobs have become less lucrative and harder to find.

“hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans do informal work for the tech industry… But with the rise of generative AI, such digital jobs have become scarce and poorly paid”
restofworld.org/2025/generat...

Turkey’s translators are training the AI tools that will replace them Human fallout may include being replaced by LLMs, diminished skills, and fewer career options for all but the elite scholars.

Turkey’s translators are training the AI tools that will replace them. Human fallout may include being replaced by LLMs, diminished skills, and fewer career options for all but the elite scholars. By Kaya Genc in @restofworld.org restofworld.org/2025/turkeys...

Teens across Asia migrate to Taiwan for promises of semiconductor jobs Student-interns are paid for low-skill factory tasks and spend little time in the classroom.

Student interns as young as 15 double up as labor in Taiwan's semiconductor factories which supply Apple, Microsoft and others. "The time spent in school is very, very little — sometimes less than two days a week." - by Hsiuwen Liu in @restofworld.org restofworld.org/2025/taiwan-...

DeepSeek’s rise shows why China’s top AI talent is skipping Silicon Valley Young Chinese engineers focus on homegrown innovation, drawn by fewer visa hurdles and the chance to build a future on their own terms.

Although earlier generations of elite Chinese tech workers preferred Silicon Valley jobs for higher salaries and a chance to work alongside the world’s top innovators, a growing share of young AI engineers are choosing to stay home. - by @violazhou.bsky.social restofworld.org/2025/china-a...

Filipino tech workers demand protections in AI bill after Rest of World report New coalition calls for labor and free speech protections as AI tools make call center work both more efficient and demanding.

AI puts pressure on workers to increase productivity, without corresponding increases in wages or benefits, the Code AI coalition said. In @restofworld.org, by Michael Beltran
restofworld.org/2025/code-ai...

Filipino tech workers demand protections in AI bill after Rest of World report New coalition calls for labor and free speech protections as AI tools make call center work both more efficient and demanding.

There is an industrywide “code of silence” on AI, Porquia told Rest of World. “We can’t say anything bad,” he said. “Because BPOs are prepping for a full-blown AI implementation, they’re trying to hide the exploitation behind it.”

restofworld.org/2025/code-ai...

The secret sauce of Chinese social media apps Addictive algorithms fuse social networking with shopping and entertainment.

Chinese apps have made social shopping mainstream, in contrast to Western social networks which focus on advertising - by Tiffany Ap and @kinlinglo.bsky.social
restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...

EV sales in Ecuador are surging despite crippling power cuts While EV users have been left in the dark during a prolonged energy crisis, many still prefer dealing with the hassle to the high cost of gas.

“I’m seriously considering switching back to a gas-fueled car.”

An electricity shortage in Ecuador is driving some EV buyers to reconsider

restofworld.org/2025/ecuador...

EV sales in Ecuador are surging despite crippling power cuts While EV users have been left in the dark during a prolonged energy crisis, many still prefer dealing with the hassle to the high cost of gas.

Thousands of Ecuadorians bought EVs in the past two years. But continuous power cuts are threatening the country’s EV ambitions - by @dandiba.bsky.social and Carolina Loza León restofworld.org/2025/ecuador... ... in @restofworld.org

Starlink is cheaper than regular internet in some African countries - by @khadijaalam.bsky.social and @tarykuh.bsky.social

The Next Great Leap in AI Is Behind Schedule and Crazy Expensive The startup has run into problem after problem on its new artificial-intelligence project, code-named Orion.

"GPT-5 would effectively have a PhD in some tasks. It is hiring people to write fresh software code or solve math problems for Orion to learn from. The workers, some of whom are software engineers and mathematicians, also share explanations for their work with" GPT-5. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...

It’s the Most Indispensable Machine in the World—and It Depends on This Woman I got a rare look at the one tool responsible for all the tech in your life. It’s made by a company you’ve never heard of. And it’s maintained by hidden figures like her.

It’s the Most Indispensable Machine in the World—and It Depends on This Woman - Behind the scenes at a semiconductor fab, and the people maintaining its machines www.wsj.com/tech/ai/asml...

How WhatsApp ate the world WhatsApp is already the world’s most widely used messaging app. Meta wants it to be a lot more.

WhatsApp is the world’s most widely used messaging app, with 2 billion daily users, who send 100 billion messages every day in 60 languages across 180 countries. An in-depth look at how it grew so big and what comes next, reports @issielapowsky for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2024/how-wha...

Employee lawsuit accuses Apple of spying on its workers | Semafor The suit alleges Apple forces employees to give up their personal privacy rights and surveils them through iCloud accounts and non-work devices.

Workers say Apple does “physical, video and electronic surveillance of them” even when they are at home and after they stop working for Apple" -- in @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/12/0...