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Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google is laying off hundreds of staff working on its voice assistant, hardware and engineering teams, with Fitbit Co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman also leaving the company, amid efforts to reduce costs, Reuters reported.
The tech giant said it will lay off hundreds at its Voice Assistant unit, while a few hundred roles are being eliminated in the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, with the majority of staff in the augmented reality, or AR, team being laid off, the report added.
Hundreds of roles in Google’s central engineering team are also being impacted, according to the company.
Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1B in 2021, however, the company has continued to roll out new versions of its Pixel Watch, a product which also competes with some of Fitbit’s devices and also Apple’s (AAPL) watches.
“Throughout second-half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” a Google spokesperson told the news agency.
The spokesperson did not provide information on the number of roles being impacted. It was not clear how many people are part of the Google Assistant software and other teams, the report noted.
The job cuts come at a time when Google is feeling the heat from rival artificial-intelligence, or AI, offerings from Microsoft (MSFT) and ChatGPT-developer OpenAI. In 2023, Google had announced plans to add generative AI features to its virtual assistant.
Last year in January, Alphabet said it plans to eliminate about 12,000 jobs. The company also made other smaller trims in 2023.
GOOG +0.36% to $144.32 premarket Jan. 11
