Bell’s bad week and Gemini comes to Canada [Antenna]

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It’s been a rough week in Canadian tech and, in particular, for Bell employees. MobileSyrup broke the news that Bell would be shuttering The Source’s Barrie, Ontario headquarters, closing stores, and laying off employees in the wake of the Best Buy Express rebrand. Then, the telecom giant announced another 4,800 layoffs as part of a larger restructuring effort.

Meanwhile, Google finally brought its Bard chatbot to Canada under the rebranded Gemini name. During the announcement, the search giant admitted Bill C-18 was one reason why it delayed the launch. Check out the news below or subscribe here to get Antenna in your inbox every Friday.

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Happy Friday! We’re back with another edition of Antenna and ohhh boy, do we have a doozy of a newsletter for you this week. Here are the highlights:

– Bell’s bad week: Bell was in the news a lot this week and for a variety of (mostly) bad news. That includes job cuts, closing The Source’s headquarters (more job losses) and more.

🤖 – Gemini finally comes to Canada: Google brought the AI chatbot formerly known as Bard to Canada under new Gemini branding. The company also admitted it delayed bringing Gemini to Canada over the government’s Bill C-18.

– Apple’s Vision Pro is apparently a $3,500 chastity belt.

– Read to the end to win a phone (or just click here).

Bell is laying off nine percent of its workforce, a total of 4,800 positions including nearly 800 contractors in the company’s biggest restructuring in 30 years. Bell says the move will save it between $150 and $200 million.

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