Google’s parent company, Alphabet, improved its stock price on Friday after it made staff cuts by a 12,000 headcount.
Its share costs rose by 5.72% to $99.28 apiece on January 20. It is expected to increase by 0.14% to $99.42 per share in the upcoming session.
According to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the cuts would affect employees across product areas and regions. He sent this through an email to the labor force on the company’s website.
In addition to other benefits, the affected staff will remain on the 60-day payroll and get at least a 16-week salary in severance.
Moreover, the gains of Alphabet sent the communication services index higher than 3.00% caused by its biggest daily percentage gain.
Furthermore, Pichai mentioned that the job layoffs were part of their ways of refocusing the company’s core business. He added that this is essential to reengineer their cost base and direct their capital to the highest priorities.
Also, staff cuts in Alphabet are the latest move regarding the impacts of tech layoffs. These actions are led by inflation which weighs on consumer spending and rising interest rates, which squeezes funding.
Meanwhile, Pichai mentioned that he takes full responsibility and apologizes for the decisions that led him to decrease the headcount.
Google AI Chatbot Threatened by ChatGPT
Due to pressure from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google plans on demonstrating its search engine with chatbot features. It is bound to launch at least 20 AI-powered tools.
Pichai declared a code red and worked on artificial intelligence development as ChatGPT threatened their search business.
Additionally, Google’s AI projects involve features such as an image generation tool and an upgraded version of AI Test Kitchen. It even includes a Tik-Tok-style green screen mode and a tool to create videos to summarize other clips.
Also, Google is working on the Shopping Try-On feature, a wallpaper creator for Pixel phones. Another included feature is AI-driven tools for developers in creating Android Apps.
