Google CEO Sundar Pichai is warning his staff to brace themselves for extra layoffs this 12 months as the corporate reallocates sources towards synthetic intelligence.
Pichai, who can also be CEO of Google’s mother or father firm Alphabet, informed staff this month that the tech large would ”take away layers [of its workforce]” this 12 months to release funds for ”investing in… [the company’s] massive priorities” in a memo despatched to staff, a Google consultant confirmed to CBS MoneyWatch.
The price slicing comes as the corporate jockeys for the lead in an AI arms race, with Google slated to announce its AI targets for the 12 months later this week. Simply final month, the tech large launched Gemini, the ”greatest improve but” to its AI chatbot Bard.
Earlier than that, the corporate dedicated investing $2 billion into OpenAI competitor Anthropic, CNBC reported.
”The fact is that to create the capability for this funding, we’ve to make powerful selections,” Pichai wrote.
Pichai didn’t specify which roles, or what number of, could be eradicated, however stated the layoffs could be much less intensive than final 12 months’s job cuts and would ”not contact each workforce,” in response to the letter.
A number of tech firms, together with Microsoft and Samsung, are growing their very own AI fashions as investor pleasure in regards to the new know-how mounts. Specialists predict the trade might be price greater than $2 trillion in 2032, a report from analysis agency Spherical Insights & Consulting reveals.
Final 12 months, Google eradicated greater than 12,000 roles in its {hardware}, procuring, core engineering, coverage and advert gross sales groups. Its layoffs have carried into the brand new 12 months, with Google slicing lots of of individuals in its {hardware}, voice help and engineering divisions earlier this month.
