CALIFORNIA: Google’s parent Alphabet is cutting about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, it said in a staff memo Friday, as the technology sector reels from layoffs and companies stake their futures on artificial intelligence (AI).
Alphabet’s shares were up nearly 3% in pre-market trading. The cuts come at a delicate moment for the U.S. company, which has long been the leader in key areas of AI research.
Alphabet now faces a challenge from Microsoft in a branch of tech that can, for instance, create virtually any content a user can think up and type in a text box.
Microsoft this week said recession worries were forcing it to shed 10,000 jobs, less than 5% of its workforce, and it would focus on imbuing its products with more AI going forward — a point Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai echoed in the memo.
Alphabet faced “a different economic reality” from the past two years when it rapidly expanded headcount, decisions for which Pichai said he took “full responsibility.”
Pichai became Alphabet CEO in 2019. Still, he said, Google was gearing up “to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses,” and the company has “a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products.” –Agencies
