Google lays off hundreds in Android, Pixel, and Chrome units amid strategic AI push

Alphabet’s Google has laid off hundreds of employees across key product teams—Android, Pixel, and Chrome—as the company continues shifting resources into its growing AI efforts. The job cuts, first reported by The Information, affect its platforms and devices unit, signaling a deeper strategy shift inside Google’s core consumer tech operations.

The latest layoff hit the very heart of its platforms and devices division. These are products billions interact with every day, which makes the move hard to ignore. The report cites a source familiar with the decision.

The job cuts follow Google’s earlier buyout offer made in January to workers in this division. It appears that the offer was just a warm-up.

“Since combining the platforms and devices teams last year, we’ve focused on becoming more nimble and operating more effectively and this included making some job reductions in addition to the voluntary exit program that we offered in January,” a Google spokesperson told The Information.

The shift isn’t happening in isolation. Big Tech has been pivoting—quietly but consistently—toward areas like AI infrastructure and data centers while pulling back from segments that once got all the love. Last month, Business Insider reported that Amazon was preparing to cut 14,000 management roles as part of a cost-saving plan aimed at trimming $3.5 billion in annual expenses, Reuters reported.

In January, Meta let go of about 5% of what it called its “lowest performers” and turned up hiring for machine learning engineers. Microsoft cut 650 roles in its Xbox division back in September. Amazon shed jobs across communications and other departments. Apple, usually silent during these waves, even trimmed around 100 positions from its digital services group last year.

Google’s cloud division wasn’t spared either. Bloomberg reported in February that several teams were affected, though the cuts were described as limited.

This is just the latest chapter in Google’s broader workforce recalibration. Back in January 2023, the company slashed 12,000 jobs—about 6% of its global staff. That move sent a clear signal: the company was rethinking how it allocates people, time, and capital.

Now, with AI dominating internal memos and investor calls alike, it’s clear which direction the winds are blowing.

This move places Google alongside other tech companies trimming their workforce. Layoffs.FYI, a site tracking job cuts in tech, reports that 93 tech companies have eliminated 23,505 jobs so far this year.