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Dropbox Layoffs 500 Staff to Construct Out its AI Division

Dropbox layoffs 500 staff to construct out its AI division says Dropbox CEO Drew Houston

Dropbox layoffs 500 staff, making up about 16% of the corporate’s total workforce. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston blames the layoffs on the unstable financial system in a notice to employees, however he additionally claims that they’ll assist the enterprise broaden its AI part.

“In an excellent situation, we’d merely swap people throughout groups. In every single place we might, we’ve executed it, says Houston. However for our subsequent stage of progress, a definite mixture of ability units is required, notably in early-stage product improvement and AI. Over the previous few years, we’ve been bringing in excellent expertise in these fields, however we’ll nonetheless want extra.

Houston claims that as a part of the transformation, Dropbox is consolidating its core and doc processing companies and making modifications to its product improvement groups. Houston provides that regardless of troublesome financial circumstances, Dropbox continues to be “worthwhile” and that the job layoffs are a results of the “pure maturation” of the Dropbox business.

Houston says, “The modifications we’re saying in the present day are painful, however they’re important for our future.” “Simply as we had been on the vanguard of the change to cellular and the cloud, I’m eager to ensure Dropbox is on the forefront of the AI age. As machine intelligence provides us the power to reinvent our present companies and construct new ones, we’ll want all palms on deck.

In a 2018 letter, Houston and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi acknowledged that “machine intelligence” will sometime allow Dropbox to raised perceive and repair its purchasers. Houston has beforehand proven curiosity in researching AI. Over time, the file storage service has added a number of AI-powered capabilities, such because the automated textual content recognition perform it included in 2018. Nonetheless, firing off employees simply to usher in new hires with AI expertise exhibits that Dropbox is critical about coming into the market.

A minimal of 16 weeks of compensation, as much as six months of healthcare, and the choice to maintain company gear for private use will probably be offered to affected staff. Moreover, they’ll get help with job placement and profession counseling.