AI is “the next frontier” for YouTube, according to CEO Neal Mohan — and it might result in the video platform’s shrinking its employee headcount.
Mohan, in a memo Wednesday to YouTube staffers, announced a major reorg of its product team into three groups: Subscriptions Products (headed by Christian Oestlien), Viewer Products (led by Johanna Voolich, formerly YouTube’s chief product officer), and Creator & Community Products (with a lead yet to be hired).
According to Mohan, the moves are related to positioning YouTube for an AI-centric future. “Looking to the future, the next frontier for YouTube is AI, which has the potential to transform every part of the platform,” Mohan said in an internal memo, as first reported by Alex Heath’s Sources AI newsletter. “We need to set ourselves up to make the most of this opportunity.”
As part of the shift to AI, YouTube is introducing a “voluntary exit program” for employees, per Mohan’s memo.
A YouTube rep, asked for more info, confirmed that YouTube is offering a voluntary exit program with severance for U.S.-based employees who may want to leave the company. However, currently, there are no role eliminations or layoffs happening as part of these changes, the spokesperson said.
Other big tech companies are already cutting jobs in anticipation of massive changes introduced by AI. On Tuesday, Amazon said it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, representing about 4% of the total corporate workforce, citing rapid developments in AI; more cuts are expected by the ecommerce giant in 2026.
Mohan’s AI-driven reorg memo came prior to parent company Alphabet reporting Q3 earnings. YouTube ad revenue for the period was $10.26 billion, a year-over-year increase of 15%, beating Wall Street analyst forecasts.
variety.com
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