Spotify's AI DJ 2.0

Plus: Big layoffs at Microsoft; Japan goes on cyber offense

Joey Padgett
May 19, 2025

Welcome back to Forests Over Trees, your tech strategy newsletter. It’s time to zoom-out, connect dots, and (try to) predict the future.

A quick thank you to this week’s partners:

Photo by Krys Amon

What’s up: Microsoft is laying off nearly 6,000 employees — about 3% of its global workforce. The layoffs span all levels and geographies, reducing management layers for units like LinkedIn and Xbox. And all this despite strong earnings and a planned $80B investment in new data centers this year.
So what: If you’re a big tech employee, this should worry you… When one company cuts, it gives others permission to follow suit. That said, we aren’t seeing an industry-wide layoff surge the way we did around COVID (check the chart below). But the layoffs are also a sign that AI-related efficiency is real — Microsoft claims that 25% of its internal codebase is now written by AI.

What’s up: Spotify’s AI DJ now supports voice commands, letting users request specific genres, artists, moods, or quirky prompts like “music to soundtrack my life as a movie.” Previously, the DJ would only shuffle based on listening habits.
So what: Two thoughts here. First, as a user, this is a huge improvement over the old DJ, because my music tastes vary widely depending on the situation (work vs workout vs hangout). Now I can point the DJ in the right direction up front. Second, as a tech product geek, I love the idea of voice-based interactions for an audio platform — it feels more natural and immersive than needing to use the keyboard to search for artists or songs.

What’s up: Japan has a new Active Cyberdefense Law that allows for preemptive offensive cyber operations, a major shift from its historically pacifist stance. Japanese authorities can now neutralize threats by infiltrating hostile servers before attacks occur, and can monitor foreign internet traffic that routes through Japan. This comes amid a surge in cyberattacks, including recent breaches by suspected Chinese hackers and a $2B online tradifng fraud.
So what: As long as they aren’t spreading their cyber resources too thin, this is a good idea. First, there’s the psychological deterrent effect. If bad actors know Japan will come after them before, during, and/or after an attack, it reduces the incentive to do so. Second, there’s the practical effect of catching things earlier… they do less damage that way. Third, it matches what other global powers (like US, China, Russia) already do.

What’s up: OpenAI launched a research preview of Codex, a powerful new AI coding agent that can write features, fix bugs, and run tests. It's rolling out to premium ChatGPT plans, and it’s entering a hot market for AI coding tools (Cursor, Copilot, etc.). OpenAI claims they’re already using Codex internally to take on repetitive work and draft technical documentation.
So what: What blows my mind about this is that OpenAI is also in talks to acquire Windsurf, another AI coding tool, for $3B. The classic management decision is “buy or build”, not “buy AND build”. So why do it? To me, it feels like a negotiating tactic. Show Windsurf you can do it yourself, or you’re about to compete them out of existence, and they might fold and sell to you.

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Lenny’s report on PM job market — Enjoyed this deep dive on PM jobs. Openings are still down from the peak, but trending up. And there’s an explosion in AI PM roles…

Zuckerberg and John Collison — Another interesting convo from Stripe Sessions a few weeks ago. Mark talks about AI, AR, org structure, and more…