Google offers buyouts to more workers amid AI-driven tech upheaval and antitrust uncertainty
Google has offered buyouts to another swath of its workforce across several key divisions in a fresh round of cost cutting coming ahead of a court decision that could order a breakup of its internet empire. The Mountain View, California, company confirmed the streamlining that was reported by several news outlets.
It's not clear how many employees are affected, but the offers were made to staff in Google's search, advertising, research and engineering units, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google employs most of the nearly 186,000 workers on the worldwide payroll of its parent company, Alphabet Inc.
'Earlier this year, some of our teams introduced a voluntary exit program with severance for U.S.-based Googlers, and several more are now offering the program to support our important work ahead,' a Google spokesperson, Courtenay Mencini, said in a statement.
'A number of teams are also asking remote employees who live near an office to return to a hybrid work schedule in order to bring folks more together in-person,' Mencini said.
Google is offering the buyouts while awaiting for a federal judge to determine its fate after its ubiquitous search engine was declared an illegal monopoly as part of nearly 5-year-old case by the U.S. Justice Department. The company is also awaiting remedy action in another antitrust case involving its digital ad network.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta is weighing a government proposal seeking to ban Google paying more than $26 billon annually to Apple and other technology companies to lock in its search engine as the go-to place for online information, require it to share data with rivals and force a sale of its popular Chrome browser. The judge is expected to rule before Labor Day, clearing the way for Google to pursue its plan to appeal last year's decision that labeled its search engine as a monopoly.
The proposed dismantling coincides with ongoing efforts by the Justice Department to force Google to part with some of the technology powering the company's digital ad network after a federal judge ruled that its digital ad network has been improperly abusing its market power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers.
Like several of its peers in Big Tech, Google has been periodically reducing its headcount since 2023 as the industry began to backtrack from the hiring spree that was triggered during pandemic lockdowns that spurred feverish demand for digital services.
Google began its post-pandemic retrenchment by laying off 12,000 workers in early 2023 and since then as been trimming some divisions to help bolster its profits while ramping up its spending on artificial intelligence — a technology driving an upheaval that is starting to transform its search engine into a more conversational answer engine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Upturn
27 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
Donald Trump's Truth Social faces outage, displays unexpected error message to users
Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, experienced an unexpected outage early Thursday, with several users encountering an error message while attempting to access the site. The incident was first noticed at 12:51 AM IST. The message read: 'An unexpected error occurred. We're sorry for the interruption. If the problem persists, please reach out to our support team. You may also try to clear cookies and browser data (this will log you out).' It also displayed technical details including the browser version (Chrome 138.0.0.0) and the Truth Social platform build (version 3.32.0-b16190b). Such error messages typically indicate that the website encountered an unhandled technical issue, which could stem from server-side problems, software bugs, or conflicts with stored browser data. The suggestion to clear cookies and browser data is a standard troubleshooting step aimed at removing corrupted session files or outdated cached content that may be interfering with website functionality. The disruption appeared to impact certain profile pages, including that of former U.S. President Donald Trump. As of the time of writing, the platform has not issued an official statement on the cause of the outage or when services will be fully restored. Truth Social, launched in February 2022, serves as the primary social media space for Trump and his supporters following his suspension from other major networks in 2021. Ahmedabad Plane Crash News desk at
Chicago Tribune
37 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Northwest Indiana casinos report decrease in casino revenues in July
Northwest Indiana's three casinos reported revenues of $69 million in July, a decrease of about 4.3% from the approximately $72.1 million reported for the same month last year, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission's monthly gaming report. Hard Rock Northern Indiana saw a slight decrease in earnings with about $37.3 million reported for July 2025 compared to $37.6 million reported in July 2024, according to the report. Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, said July was a stronger month compared to June, but 'flat' compared to July 2024. 'The entire Northwest Indiana market was down, for us to stay relatively flat to prior year was a good thing for us. As we're starting to finish out summer and head into fall, our entertainment calendar really starts to get a little more packed,' Schuffert said. The Fourth of July was on a Friday this year, which helped increase revenues, Schuffert said. July marked the 45th month in a row Hard Rock remained the state's leader for gaming revenue, he said. 'Definitely a good, strong month for Hard Rock Northern Indiana in July,' Schuffert said. Horseshoe Hammond and Ameristar Casino in East Chicago also reported decreases in revenue year over year in July. Horseshoe Hammond reported approximately $19 million in revenues in July 2025 and $20 million in revenues in July 2024. Ameristar Casino reported $12.7 million in revenues in July 2025 and $14.5 million in revenues in July 2024, according to the report. Hard Rock reported an increase in revenue from June to July, while Horseshoe Hammond and Ameristar saw a decrease in revenue in the same time period. Hard Rock reported $31.7 million in revenues in June and $37.3 million in July, according to the report. Horseshoe Hammond reported $21.2 million in revenues in June and $19 million in July, while Ameristar reported $12.9 million in revenues in June and $12.7 million in July, according to the report. Ameristar and Horseshoe Hammond officials did not respond to requests for comment. August tends to be 'a mixed bag,' as parents help their students go back to school, Schuffert said. But, this August has five full weekends, including a part of Labor Day weekend, which could help bump up the numbers, he said. 'It's usually a decent month, not a great month,' Schuffert said.
Chicago Tribune
38 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aurora City Council pushes back on possible reductions in support for Paramount
The city of Aurora is looking at pulling back on discussed financial support for the Aurora Civic Center Authority, which owns and operates the Paramount Theatre, but some City Council members are saying they're concerned about the possibility. The matter came up at Tuesday's Aurora City Council meeting, when the council heard a presentation on the city's 2024 audit and discussed the city's future financial concerns. The presentation described the city's use of American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, money which had to be obligated by 2024 and spent by 2025, Aurora Chief Financial Officer Stacy Peterson told the council. Much of that funding was spent on ongoing costs, she said, like the ShotSpotter system, body cameras and dash cameras for the police, the addition of 49 full-time employees and financial support to things like the Aurora Civic Center Authority. Peterson also noted that costs for the city went up in 2024, as did the city's debt, and revenue stayed the same or went down slightly. Aurora is facing a significant budget gap for the coming year, Mayor John Laesch recently said. In addition to other attempts to cut costs or generate more revenue, one recent move was the cancellation of the proposed City of Lights Center theater and event space that would have been managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority, according to past reporting. The project didn't make sense to him or others, and the price was just too high, Laesch has said. Laesch also recently said that the city has been giving the Aurora Civic Center Authority 'way too much,' according to past reporting. In addition to the Paramount, the Aurora Civic Center Authority owns and operates the Copley Theatre, Paramount School of the Arts and North Island Center, as well as manages the city-owned RiverEdge Park and Stolp Island Theatre. Earlier this month, ACCA said in a letter to subscribers that the city's previously-communicated financial support of the organization could be reduced by up to 65%, a change made after programming and budgeting had already been committed for 2026, according to past reporting. The organization said its Bold Series would be going on hiatus after the final performance of its current production, 'True West,' on Aug. 31 at the Copley Theatre in downtown Aurora. ACCA also reduced its full-time staff by around 20%, President and CEO Tim Rater previously said. ACCA was facing a $7 million shortfall in its 2026 budget, and under former Mayor Richard Irvin, the city was considering filling that gap, according to past reporting. That planned support represented roughly 20% of the organization's overall yearly budget, according to Rater. In a statement, Laesch reiterated that the ARPA funding that had previously been supporting the Aurora Civic Center Authority was no longer available, and he said that the city has offered to help with fundraising, cross-promotion and other initiatives to help the organization's finances. A spokesperson for the Paramount on Thursday said that it is continuing to negotiate with the city, but declined to comment further on the organization's plans going forward. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, council members noted that there had been pushback from constituents about the possibility of the city reducing financial support for the Paramount. Ald. Jonathan Nunez, 4th Ward, said that 'upset is an understatement' in terms of the response he's gotten from constituents. 'Our budgeting and our revenue and expense proposals are basically a reflection of our community's values,' Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, said at Tuesday's meeting. 'I think we all know how the community feels about the value down there … it seemed like that was a harsh way to start.' Laesch said at the council meeting that the city has never had a budget line for ACCA, and that Aurora is facing significant financial challenges. The city will provide an update to the council on its financial situation on Aug. 26, per the presentation from Tuesday's meeting. 'I think when you get the Aug. 26 financial update, I think you'll probably realize just how serious of a financial situation the city's in,' Laesch said. 'I'd say that it (is) probably going to be pain felt all over.' But City Council members expressed concern that possible cuts to the Paramount would have an impact beyond the theater itself, to surrounding businesses and restaurants, for example. 'The engine, as we know, is the arts down here, and I hope it doesn't affect them,' Franco said. 'I hope … that it doesn't see them leaving, because that's revenue for us.' Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, said it might mean less people coming to Aurora overall. 'The cuts are going to come back at us,' Smith said. 'The people that come to Aurora because of our Paramount will no longer be coming here because we're not going to be offering the quality and the shows and the amount of shows that we have had in the past.' Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward, said there was a 'gap here … in terminology,' noting that city funds for ACCA hadn't been budgeted yet, but were merely projections for next year. Ald. Will White, at-large, said he believes the city should support the arts, but asked if there is any oversight from the city as to how money is spent when they give it. Laesch said he thinks the city can look at its finances, and said that the city will need to have some oversight on the accounting at ACCA. As the city continues to grapple with its financial troubles, the council on Tuesday suggested some direction for how it wants the city to proceed in supporting the Paramount. Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, for example, advocated for 'more of a soft landing to assist them, rather than something so drastic.' 'I think everybody recognizes that (funding) needs to be cut,' Saville said. 'The question is: can we do it in such a way where it doesn't hurt their programming and doesn't hurt the businesses and doesn't hurt the economic activity that we've established here?'
