From Layoffs to Artificial Intelligence and Supply Chains
Welcome to Top Conversations in Tech, where we isolate the hottest trends, falling stars and shifting market dynamics to help technology marketers maximize their relevance. This month’s data reflects news and blog citations in February 2025 versus January 2025 and February 2024. We currently monitor 270+ topics, with data and insights going back to March 2019.
In January, only four of the top ten topics increased in volume from December 2024: #1 Artificial Intelligence, experiencing a 26% month over month (MoM) increase; #7 Supply Chain, an 8% MoM increase, #8 Tech Compliance, a 5% increase; and #10 Cybersecurity with a 7% increase in volume. In February, only two topics in the top ten experienced a month-over-month increase from January: #6 Supply Chain and #10 Layoffs. #10 Layoffs increased 170%, which was the biggest month over month increase across all the topics Big Valley tracks.
Layoffs increased 170% from January, rising from a rank of #30 to #10. What were the top themes?
Roughly 65% of the layoff coverage mentioned President Trump, DOGE, or Elon Musk. The remaining 35% of coverage detailed corporate layoffs that ranged from Starbucks—which accounted for 2% of total layoff coverage—to Chevron and PepsiCo.
The main layoff stories fell within four narratives, illustrated below:
It has been a month since DeepSeek. What were the top themes for #1 Artificial Intelligence in February?
#1 Artificial Intelligence citations decreased 4% from January 2025. AI volume increased on February 11th when news outlets reported that both the US and the UK “refused to sign [the] international AI declaration.” Vice President Vance’s speech at the Paris AI Summit also drew attention from top-tier outlets, like the Associated Press and CBS News. DeepSeek continued to generate coverage, increasing its relative inclusion from 7% in January to 15% in February. Companies like Nvidia commented on DeepSeek, alleging that its chip sales were strong amidst the DeepSeek concerns.
#6 Supply Chain increased 4% from January, moving up in rank from #7. What were the top themes?
Unsurprisingly, a majority of outlets reported on the impact of President Trump’s tariffs, from Canada and Mexico to China. The main focus, making up just under 50% of the total supply chain topic, was on supply chain disruptions, primarily driven by changes made by the Trump administration.
Impacted areas included:
- Wind power projects;
- The automotive industry, which expects a price increase on vehicles;
- Big pharma, which also expects an increase across products;
- And more.
Top Conversation’s Biggest Gains
In addition to #10 Layoff’s significant increase, #194 Extended Detection Response/XDR increased 107%, moving it up in rank from its January spot at #200. #148 Election Security increased 75%, pushing it up in rank by 30 places.
Top Conversation’s Biggest Losses
Last month, #88 Content Moderation made the “biggest gains” list. For February, it fell under the “biggest losses” category. #88 Content Moderation dropped 61% from January (27K+ citations to 10K+ citations) as reporters moved on from the Meta content moderation storyline. #195 Storage Area Network and #117 Consumer Technology also dropped considerably, decreasing 65% and 52% respectively.
Top Takeaways
- In-depth understanding around ramifications of new players and technologies takes time to understand. DeepSeek news not only continued but the relative inclusion of DeepSeek within broader AI conversations increased from 7% to 15%.
- Right now, politics drives conversation. Reporters frame implications relative to the political environment. It becomes the reader’s job to ask additional questions about impacts beyond politics.
- Supply chain should experience a similar increase in March due to the nature of the evolving tariff conversation.
As anticipated, 2025 coverage generally stabilized throughout February—with the exception of layoffs. A majority of the tech conversations stayed strong. AI continued to generate at least 300K+ citations a month and supply chain generated speculation around the impact of new policies across industries.
Check out previous installments of Top Conversations in Tech here.
