Google CEO Sundar Pichai released an internal memo on Jan. 17 forecasting that more jobs will need to be eliminated in 2024 to hit its “ambitious goals” in various areas, including artificial intelligence (AI).
According to the memo titled “2024 priorities and the year ahead,” which was seen and reported by the Verge and CNBC, Pichai said, “We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year.”
“The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices.”
The Google executive said that for some teams, that entails eliminating roles and “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity.” However, he also said the layoffs will not be as large as the previous year and “will not touch every team.”
Pichai said that some teams will also continue to make “resource allocation decisions.”
In January 2023, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced it would cut 6% of its global workforce. By September 2023, the company had laid off 182,381 employees globally.
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Among Google’s key investment areas for 2024 is AI, for which it plans to release the company’s goals later in the week.
In December 2023, Google closed the year by releasing its most powerful model to date, Gemini, which was initially considered a “GPT-4 killer,” as it was said to be on par with OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 model that currently dominates the market.
However, Gemini’s reception was mixed, and many users claimed its promotional video stretched the truth to paint the model in a better light. Google’s response to this was that some promotional material used was manipulated for brevity.
Shortly after, Google slashed prices for its pro version of Gemini and said it plans to make its tools more accessible to developers to create their own versions, similar to ChatGPT’s feature to let premium users create personalized GPTs.
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