Google fires 100+ employees working on Google Assistant as it looks to integrate AI

Technology giant Google, which earlier laid off over 10,000 employees, has announced another round of layoffs, which would affect a few hundred roles across various divisions, including its core engineering team, Google Assistant, and hardware division.

While the exact number of impact employees remains undisclosed, Media publications like The Verge report that Google confirmed layoffs of around a thousand employees on Wednesday alone.

As of September 30th, 2023, Google's parent firm, Alphabet, employed 182,381 employees, so roughly a thousand job cuts would only be around half a percent of the company’s total workforce, which doesn't look huge but notable since Google and other tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft have been laying off thousands of employees over the past few months.

Earlier today, Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) laid off around 1,000 employees from the safety team, which was responsible for stopping abusive content on its online platform.

Specific divisions affected

The layoffs at Google predominantly affected the team working on augmented reality, as well as those involved with the Google Assistant, Pixel phones, Fitbit watches, and Nest thermostats.

Google said that the employees in these divisions were notified that their roles were being eliminated as it is now focusing on integrating artificial intelligence technology into its products for further efficient improvements.

Focusing on generative AI

While initially it was reported by reputable media publications, Google later confirmed these layoffs and emphasized its focus on investing responsibly in its major priorities. The company is channelling its efforts towards the rapidly growing field of generative artificial intelligence as it is facing tough competition from Microsoft's AI Copilot and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

"A few hundred roles are being eliminated in DSPA with the majority of impacts on the 1P AR Hardware team. While we are making changes to our 1P AR hardware team, Google continues to be deeply committed to other AR initiatives, such as AR experiences in our products, and product partnerships," reads Google's statement.

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