The Big Read: The Master of Destruction Rides AgainRead more

Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat. Photo by Bloomberg

Alphabet Job Cuts Widen to Robotics Subsidiary

Photo: Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat. Photo by Bloomberg

Less than a month ago, Alphabet’s industrial robotics subsidiary Intrinsic said it acquired a team of people from a software development firm called Open Robotics. On Wednesday, Intrinsic went in the other direction by laying off 40 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to The Information. A person close to the company said the layoffs represented nearly 20% of employees.

The U-turn at Intrinsic, which spun out of Alphabet’s X incubator a year and a half ago, happened the same day that a bigger Alphabet subsidiary, life-sciences firm Verily, cut 15% of its roughly 1,700 employees, The Information earlier reported. They suggest that Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat has embarked on a cost-cutting effort across the conglomerate, which has a dozen subsidiary businesses, including Google. While the cuts happened at a group of more-nascent businesses Alphabet calls “Other Bets,” they’ve raised the level of concern among Google employees about potential layoffs.

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Microsoft's Satya Nadella, left, and Peter Lee. Photo by Bloomberg, Microsoft
Exclusive
How Microsoft Swallowed Its Pride to Make a Massive Bet on OpenAI
Satya Nadella didn’t want to hear it. Last December, Peter Lee, who oversees Microsoft’s sprawling research efforts, was briefing Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, and his deputies about a series of tests Microsoft had conducted of GPT-4, the then-unreleased new artificial intelligence large-language model built by OpenAI.
Art by Clark Miller
The AI Age e-commerce ai
How to Grease a Chatbot: E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses
When Andy Wilson’s company received its first successful client referral through ChatGPT, he was shaken to his core.
Chris Britt, co-founder and CEO of Chime.
Exclusive startups Finance
Chime’s Slowdown Highlights Limits of Bank Disruptors
Chime found a way to offer zero-fee banking services without being a bank itself. But that approach is starting to show its limits.
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read markets Finance
The Master of Destruction Rides Again
In the spring of 2022, the irascible Wall Street short seller Marc Cohodes was in a particularly foul mood.
Art by Mike Sullivan
startups asia
Venture Capitalists Face Pressure to Divest From China
Silicon Valley venture capitalists are coming to terms with a new reality: Their once-prized China investments may be victims of a simmering cold war.
Chart by Mike Sullivan.
Data Point enterprise
Enterprise Software’s Laggards: Firms Growing Slowly And Still Burning Cash
It’s the age-old refrain in American business: You have to spend money to make money. And it’s particularly true of the tech industry, where startups pour millions into untested new businesses and technologies.