The Most Consequential Technology Stories of 2024, According to HackerNoon Editors | HackerNoon

This is the last edition of this year’s “Tech, What the Heck!?” newsletter. Just like in 2023, all the editors at HackerNoon got together again to discuss what they thought were the most important themes and news bites of 2024. Here’s what we thought:

Sheharyar – 2024 Made Me an AI Skeptic

Last year, I said I was a crypto skeptic. This year, I’m an artificial intelligence AND a crypto skeptic.

By far, one of the most submitted stories on HackerNoon this year had to do with artificial intelligence and its supposed benefits in literally any and all sectors of the world. Never mind the fact that most of the authors making those claims seemed to be relying a little too much on ChatGPT, but even after accounting for the ungodly amount of articles rejected for being AI-generated (a big no-no at HackerNoon), I couldn’t help but notice similar themes in the submissions.

Chatter around artificial intelligence is quite varied. Wall Street’s optimism about generative artificial intelligence’s potential, which propelled Nvidia to one of the most valued companies in the world, is turning into agitation and impatience over its increasing capital requirements and lack of meaningful returns.

Worryingly still, the bulk of the success from artificial intelligence is being reaped by a select few corporations —Nvidia, chiefly, but also the likes of Amazon and Microsoft, and is not being evenly distributed across the economy as one would hope. Instead, as one meme on the internet put it, AI is being used for creative work while humans are left with menial and boring tasks — an ironic contradiction, given AI was supposed to do the exact opposite.

Far from the utopia it was supposed to usher all of us into, generative AI became a buzzword that smaller corporations desperately tried to capitalize on in hopes it would boost their stock prices. Some even went so far as to lay off employees in hopes AI could do their work, only to hire back people so they could fix the AI’s output.

Despite all that, I noticed that the same language that I had seen being used by pro-web3/crypto/blockchain/whathaveyou crowd in the past, was now being co-opted by a new segment of the population that treated generative AI like it was the second coming of Jesus—shoehorning the technology anywhere they could and providing overly simplistic explanations of how AI could solve [enter problem here].

Yes, generative AI may be useful to some. Yes, I did/do sparingly use generative AI in my day-to-day work. Yes, the technology underpinning generative AI is interesting, no doubt. But it is by no means without its limitations and is in no way a substitute for artistic, creative, or even serious professional work.

The sheer amount of resources needed to continue improving generative AI and the diminishing rate of return means that the AI bubble is destined to pop. I don’t doubt that AI will continue to dominate mainstream discourse in the year(s) to come, but it’s quite evident to me that more and more people will become jaded with the technology unless there’s a very major breakthrough (doubtful at the moment).

Yet, that won’t stop corporations and the pro-AI crowd from singing praises of this supposed messianic technology in ending the planet’s woes.

My biggest takeaway from generative AI is that it’s great for speed, but not so much for depth. It can certainly supplement one’s skill, but cannot magically make them a master of their craft—that takes time, effort, and repeated practice.

Generative AI also depressingly exposes the masses’ struggle with language, specifically when it comes to writing. It inadvertently gives people the impression that they too can become prolific thought leaders by simply telling ChatGPT to write something tailored to their specific prompt.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I think it is only fitting that I end my key takeaway for the year with one of my favorite quotes, which I believe fits perfectly with where we find ourselves today with ChatGPT and such.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,” Oscar Wilde.

Asher – The Stars Feel Closer Than Ever

Faith, borders, skin tone, sexual orientation, and a myriad of time-wrought biases are the lines that divide us. But, ever so often, in the face of extraordinary challenges or triumphs, Humanity puts its many differences aside, uniting to fight a greater enemy or applaud a greater good.

In Q4 2024, SpaceX, the brainchild of Mr. Elon Musk—world’s richest man and self-proclaimed champion of free speech—gave us a reason to forego incessant infighting (if only for a few moments), look up to the sky and applaud one of humanity’s greatest space-related achievements.

Something extraordinary happened in Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024. Mechazilla—a nickname given to the towering mechanical arms attached to SpaceX’s launch tower—caught a Super Heavy rocket booster in mid-air during Starship flight 5. This catch wasn’t just a major engineering triumph, but also a giant leap for mankind toward the future of Space exploration and possibly interplanetary colonization.

Why is this such a big deal?

Well, historically, rockets have been single-use machines, discarded after a single launch. This approach is terribly expensive, with costs ranging from tens to hundreds of millions per launch. Take NASA’s Space Launch System, for example—it’s estimated to cost over 2 billion dollars PER LAUNCH, which is more than the annual budget of some small nations. Mechazilla’s successful catch stands to cut these costs drastically. What’s more, it moves SpaceX closer to its goal of rapid reuse and could potentially slash the prep time between launches from months to days.

Even from the POV of a layman, I could go on and on about the implications of this breakthrough—lower launch costs mean more frequent launches which in turn could mean accelerated scientific research. And if SpaceX can pull it off, it’s only a matter of time before *Monkey see Monkey do—*more companies worldwide will inevitably step up to a plate and innovate with a vengeance.

Moreso, reusable rockets also mean less space debris—and lord knows we’ve polluted this planet enough for several lifetimes.

Musk is many things to many people, but regardless of what you(and I) may think about his quirks, tweets (or should I say posts?), and politicking, we can’t deny his knack for pushing the envelope. The successful catch by Mechazilla—and Starship’s first soft ocean landing earlier this year—feel like our generation’s “Man on the Moon” moments. The possibilities truly seem endless.

In the words of my favorite Toy Story character—to infinity and beyond!

Jose – Layoffs, Layoffs, and Guess What? More Layoffs

When I was growing up, I heard one thing ad nauseam: If you want a good and steady job, you need a college degree. With a college degree, you are guaranteed a cushy job and won’t struggle anymore. Well, maybe that was true back in the day, but now, that’s a long-gone dream.

And that is never clearer than when scrolling through social media/ the news feed and seeing headline after headline announcing more and more layoffs.

I’ve seen so many layoff headlines, so many recently laid-off employees announcing that they’re looking for jobs that it doesn’t even surprise me anymore. And it feels that I’ve seen more of that this year than ever before.

TechCrunch made a comprehensive list of tech layoffs this year, and I highly recommend looking it over. But right now, let’s focus on the layoffs from big tech companies:

Microsoft

In January, it was reported that Microsoft would be letting go of 1,900 people. This came only a few months after Microsoft acquired gaming company Activision Blizzard.

Then, in May, Microsoft closed down three of its studios: Alpha Dog Games, Arkane Austin, and Tango Gameworks.

The man would come around two more times: In June, it was reported by Business Insider that Microsoft would let go of hundreds of Azure employees, and in May, it was revealed that they would be letting go of 650 people from their gaming division.

Intel

In one of the biggest layoff announcements of the year, Intel announced that they were going to cut 15,000 jobs which accounts for 15% of their workforce, according to a note from CEO Intel Pat Gelsinger. In the same note, Gelsinger goes on to say this:

“Simply put, we must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate. Our revenues have not grown as expected – and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both – particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected.

These decisions have challenged me to my core, and this is the hardest thing I’ve done in my career. My pledge to you is that we will prioritize a culture of honesty, transparency and respect in the weeks and months to come.”

Amazon

Amazon started off the year by laying off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios divisions. Then, in April, Amazon Web Services revealed that they would be letting go of hundreds of people.

Twitch, the popular live-streaming platform which is also owned by Amazon, also let go of 500 people this year.

Tesla

In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out an internal memo to Tesla employees where he said the company was going to cut 10% of its workforce, which means 14,000 people were laid off. He also said this:

“I would like to thank everyone who is departing Tesla for their hard work over the years. I’m deeply grateful for your many contributions to our mission and we wish you well in your future opportunities. It is very difficult to say goodbye.

For those remaining, I would like to thank you in advance for the difficult job that remains ahead. We are developing some of the most revolutionary technologies in auto, energy and artificial intelligence. As we prepare the company for the next phase of growth, your resolve will make a huge difference in getting us there.”

Cisco

This year, Cisco did two rounds of layoffs; both rounds saw thousands of people losing their jobs. In February, they cut 4,000 jobs. The second time was in September when they let go of an estimated 5,600 people.

In total, it is estimated that almost 150,000 people were laid off by tech companies in 2024.

The tech boom that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is in the rearview mirror, and we’re feeling the effects of it. Hopefully next year, we’ll feel it less.

And there you have it folks — 2024 from the eyes of HackerNoon editors. Let’s see what the cat brings in in 2025 🙂

In Other News.. 📰

• Crypto Scammers Are Now Stealing From Other Crypto Thieves — via CoinDesk
• Backed by a16z and QED, Brazilian startup Carecode puts AI agents to work on healthcare — via TechCrunch
• MAGA opponents of Elon Musk claim he stripped them of their X badges — via CNN
• Nvidia closes $700 mln Run:ai acquisition after regulatory hurdles — via Reuters
• What to know about Sriram Krishnan, whose AI appointment sparked MAGA outrage — via Axios
• OpenAI says it needs ‘more capital than we’d imagined’ as it lays out for-profit plan — via CNBC

And that’s a wrap! Don’t forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y’all next week. PEACE! ☮️

— Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon

*All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon’s Tech Company Rankings page.

Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon’s proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here.