Earlier this month, we learned that Tailwind, the popular open-source framework to build modern websites, has laid off 75% of its workforce because of the "brutal" impact of AI on its business model. Now, it appears that the social media platform for sharing information in the form of pinboards is also laying off some of its staff due to its strategic shift towards AI technologies.
CNBC reports that Pinterest"s most recent regulatory filing has revealed that the company is laying off 15% of its workforce and also reducing its physical office space so that it can embrace AI fully. These layoffs will be complete by the end of its third quarter this calendar year, which means that this should happen by the end of September. That said, it"s not clear if the layoff will happen in one go or if it will be carried out in a staggered manner.
Pinterest has tried to put a positive spin on this decision, saying that it is "reallocating" resources to teams which are laser-focused on building AI-powered products and capabilities that can be integrated into the social media platform. It also indicated that it would be restructuring its sales and marketing team, which indicates that these will be the most heavily impacted by layoffs.
Indeed, Pinterest has been spearheading the use of AI technologies a lot during the past year or so. It has introduced a bunch of AI-powered features on the platform, is working on reducing "AI slop", and has also given customers an AI tool that, ironically, tunes down AI-generated content.
While the 15% figure may seem small to some, Pinterest reported 4,500 employees in a filing last year. If this number is still roughly the same, that would mean that 15% layoffs would impact around 700 employees. Following this filing, the share price of Pinterest fell by 9%.
In related news, Amazon is also laying off thousands of workers soon. Read more about that here.