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President To Impose $100,000 Fee For H-1B Worker Visas, White House Says

3 weeks 6 days ago
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B worker visas, a White House official said, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China. From a report: As part of his broader immigration crackdown, the Republican president was expected to sign a proclamation as early as Friday restricting entry under the H-1B visa program unless the application fee is paid, the official said. The H-1B program has become critical for technology and staffing companies who rely on foreign workers to fill a variety of technical roles. Amazon had over 10,000 H-1B visas approved in the first half of 2025, while Microsoft and Meta had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Roughly two-thirds of jobs secured through the visa program are computer-related, according to U.S. government figures, but employers also use the visa to bring in engineers, educators and healthcare workers.

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Microsoft Hikes US Xbox Prices Citing Economic Environment

4 weeks ago
Microsoft will increase Xbox Series X and Series S console prices in the United States on October 3. The Series X rises to $649.99 from $599.99 and the 512GB Series S increases to $399.99 from $379.99. The 1TB Series S moves to $449.99 from $429.99. The Series X Digital Edition reaches $599.99 from $549.99 and the 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition climbs to $799.99 from $729.99. Microsoft cited macroeconomic changes for the increases. Console prices outside the US and controller and headset prices domestically remain unchanged. The company raised console prices globally in May.

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Meta Pushes Into Power Trading as AI Sends Demand Soaring

4 weeks ago
Meta is moving to break into the wholesale power-trading business to better manage the massive electricity needs of its data centers. Bloomberg: The company, which owns Facebook, filed an application with US regulators this week seeking authorization to do so. A Meta representative said it was a natural next step to participate in energy markets as it looks to power operations with clean energy. Buying electricity has become an increasingly urgent challenge for technology companies including Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google. They're all racing to develop more advanced artificial intelligence systems and tools that are notoriously resource-intensive. Amazon, Google and Microsoft are already active power traders, according to filings with US regulators.

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