It’s been a tough week at Big Tech. After Microsoft announced it would cut 10,000 jobs, it was Google’s parent company Alphabet’s turn to announce a plan to lay off 12,000 people this Friday. These departures make up approximately 6% of the group’s workforce worldwide.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the job cuts will affect various subsidiaries, divisions, functions and regions, including the US. But no details. Its cloud gaming service Stadia officially shut down this week, but that was announced months ago.
Refocusing on AI
“Over the past two years, we have experienced periods of rapid growth. To drive this growth, we hired employees based on a certain economic reality that is no longer the same today,” explains Sundar Pichai in an email he sent to his employees. and published on the company blog.
Artificial intelligence now seems to be at the very top of Alphabet’s list of strategic priorities. “Thanks to AI, we have a unique opportunity in all of our products, and we are ready to seize it resolutely and responsibly,” said the CEO. Google called on the help of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, two former house executives who left Google three years ago, to discuss the company’s options in the face of the ChatGPT threat, according to the New York Times developed by OpenAI. Currently, the group is developing more than 20 artificial intelligence projects.
Apple is the only GAFAM that has yet to announce a major restructuring project as Amazon, Meta and Microsoft lay off several thousand employees. The firm was content to slow or freeze certain hires.
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