Snapchat owner cuts 1,000 jobs as says AI will reduce repetitive work

Snap is the latest tech company to cut jobs, citing the growing ability of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The Snapchat owner has axed about 1,000 employees - 16% of staff - and withdrawn hundreds of open job roles, according to a financial disclosure. Evan Spiegel, Snap's co-founder and CEO, told employees the company was in "a crucible moment" and the goal of the cuts was to reduce yearly costs by $500m (£368m). Spiegel said that workers who remain at the company will be using AI tools to "reduce repetitive work and increase velocity," as "small squads" of employees have been doing in recent months. "Change of this magnitude and at this speed is never easy and it will not be seamless," Spiegel added in his memo. This cut at Snap marks at least the third larger scale layoff at the company since 2022, when it conducted its first major layoff which impacted 20% of its staff at the time. Spiegel's comments on Wednesday are the first time he has pointed to AI as an explanation for staffing decisions. This year, activist investor Irenic Capital Management took a stake in Snap, saying in a public letter to Spiegel that it was "strange" the company remained unprofitable after 15 year