London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Coronavirus Fears Are Causing Tech Giants To Cancel Conferences, Curb Travel, And Take Hits To Supply Chains

Coronavirus Fears Are Causing Tech Giants To Cancel Conferences, Curb Travel, And Take Hits To Supply Chains

Uncertainty has hit Apple, Facebook, and Google as the outbreak spreads.
Although the coronavirus has barely touched down in the US, it’s already disrupting operations at all five of the world’s most powerful technology companies.

“It’s on everyone’s mind,” one Microsoft employee told BuzzFeed News. “How could it not be?”

Much is still unknown about COVID-19, but leaders at Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon are already limiting travel, urging employees to use caution, and canceling conferences as they prepare for a possible pandemic.

Google, with one employee already infected, hopes it can still go forward with its I/O developer conference in May but is monitoring the virus’s progression closely. Microsoft pulled out of this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Facebook on Thursday canceled its annual F8 developer conference in San Jose, its most significant event of the year, opting for smaller local gatherings instead. Apple is sprinting to get its supply chain back in order after slowdowns in China. And Amazon announced it would be limiting its employees' travel within the US and internationally.

For now, employees at the tech giants told BuzzFeed News their companies are operating with caution and uncertainty. “Everyone realizes there’s going to be an impact,” the Microsoft employee said. “It all depends on how long this lasts for, and what the implication is downstream on supply chains, business investments, and infrastructure.”

On Friday, Google confirmed an employee in its Zurich office had been infected with COVID-19. But the company told BuzzFeed News that its big developer conference is still on. “Google I/O is currently planned for May 12–14,” a spokesperson said. “We'll continue to monitor developments around COVID-19 and follow the best practices laid out by the CDC, WHO, and other relevant entities.” The spokesperson said the company has a coronavirus plan but declined to go into details.

But some tech companies have canceled their participation in major conferences. Microsoft not only pulled out of the Game Developers Conference, a significant move for the company that develops the Xbox - it’s also canceled some meetings for employees that require global travel. “We have risk management scenarios we prepare for,” a Microsoft spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “We have been in close, regular contact with the relevant authorities relating to COVID-19 and have a range of measures we are prepared, should it become necessary.”

At Facebook, the F8 cancellation surprised some employees. “I haven't seen much of a disruption until I saw the post about F8, which came as a surprise and seems premature to me as the conference is over two months away,” one Facebook employee told BuzzFeed News, adding, ”I don't think it really impacts FB's product launch strategy.”

Facebook has restricted travel to Italy, South Korea, and to and from mainland China, a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. The virus has also affected its ability to produce Oculus VR headsets. “Oculus Quest has been selling out in some regions due to high demand,” the spokesperson said. “That said, like other companies, we're expecting some additional impact to our hardware production due to the coronavirus.”

After shutting down some factories earlier in February, Apple is now “getting back to normal," Tim Cook claimed in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday. “I’m very optimistic,” he added.

Still, inside Apple, not everything is back to normal. An increasing number of new hires haven’t received work equipment from China, someone who works at Apple told BuzzFeed News. And the company has restricted travel to some counties in the Asia-Pacific region, leading to an increase of people working from home and video conferencing. Some workers have changed the way they commute to avoid coronavirus risks. “Driving to work,” the person who works at Apple said. “Not riding the commuter shuttles to decrease exposure.”

It is not yet clear if Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose this year. An Apple spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the company’s plans to respond to the outbreak. A spokesperson for San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo declined to comment.

Amazon has canceled some travel, both inside the US and outside. “We're asking employees to defer nonessential travel during this time,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. The US restriction was added this week, following restrictions in China, South Korea, and Europe.

Amazon has also been busy keeping ahead with coronavirus scammers and profiteers. It’s banned more than 1 million products from its website for false coronavirus claims. It’s also removed thousands of products for price gouging, though this remains an ongoing battle.

These disruptions will inevitably impact the tech giants’ businesses, but the extent of what will happen is unclear. Two analysts declined to comment on what might happen to the industry. “Sorry, we have not even started framing this ourselves yet,” one said. “Have to pass.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×