Google's 2024 forecast: job cuts to propel AI initiatives

The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, outlined a plan for job cuts in an internal memo, stating the need to eliminate roles in exchange for ambitious goals, such as artificial intelligence.

The CEO of Google, 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.”

Last year, around the same time, in January 2023, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced job cuts of 6% of its global workforce. By September of the same year, the company had let go of 182,381 employees globally. 

Related: AI computing in 2024: Navigating the surge in demand for generative AI

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 Google closed the year by releasing its most powerful model to date, Gemini, which was initially deemed a “GPT-4 killer” as it was said to be en par with OpenAI’s GPT-4 model that currently dominates the market. 

However, the reception of Gemini was mixed after 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 AI model 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.