The wave of layoffs at Google continues, with CEO Sundar Pichai confirming the news in a recent memo outlining the company's priorities for 2024. Despite ambitious goals and investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Pichai acknowledged that difficult choices, including role eliminations, are necessary.
In the memo titled "2024 priorities and the year ahead," Pichai emphasized the company's commitment to shifting investments towards AI. He mentioned that company leadership would communicate technology goals for the year and publish key objectives and results (OKRs) for 2024.
While Pichai assured that the layoffs would not be as extensive as last year, which saw 12,000 positions eliminated (about 6% of the total workforce), he acknowledged that some teams would face resource allocation decisions. However, he emphasized that not every team would be affected by the layoffs.
Google's focus on AI has intensified since the popularity surge of ChatGPT in late 2022. The company launched a chatbot named Bard and recently released its largest AI model, Gemini, which purportedly surpasses the performance of OpenAI's GPT-4 model.
Despite the strategic shift towards AI investments, Google's ongoing layoffs underscore the challenges and adjustments faced by the tech giant as it navigates evolving priorities and market dynamics in the pursuit of innovation and growth.