Synopsis
Snap Inc. is reportedly planning substantial job cuts, potentially impacting 15-20% of its workforce, as reported by Alex Heath. While some teams face significant reductions, the Specs unit, focused on AR smart glasses, is expanding hiring. Meanwhile, a planned $400 million integration with Perplexity AI has reportedly been aborted due to disagreements.Listen to this article in summarized format
Citing people familiar with the matter, Heath reported that layoffs could affect around 15-20% of Snap’s workforce, which currently exceeds 5,000 employees. Some teams could even be reduced by half, he wrote.
However, the exact number of people who will be affected is still not clear.
The newsletter also noted uncertainty over how strongly CEO Evan Spiegel will present these cuts as being driven by artificial intelligence.
Specs unit expands hiring
At the same time, the Specs organisation, recently spun off as a separate subsidiary, is hiring employees, the newsletter said. This includes teams working on the Lens Studio platform, which developers use to build augmented reality (AR) experiences for both Snapchat and Specs.
Snap introduced Specs in January as an independent business focused on AR smart glasses, aiming to compete with Meta Platforms in the growing wearables market. The company has invested more than $3 billion over 11 years into developing its AR glasses, Spiegel said at the Augmented World Expo last year.
This comes as Snap, in February, announced that its direct-revenue business had reached a $1 billion annualised run rate. The growth has been driven largely by its Snapchat+ subscription service, as the company looks to diversify beyond advertising.
Snap added that its total subscriber base has surpassed 25 million. The direct-revenue offerings include Snapchat+, the Memories photo and video archive tool, and in-app purchases.
Last year, Spiegel had described Snap as being in a "crucible moment" after slowing quarterly revenue growth, outlining his ambition to turn direct revenue into "a durable multi-billion-dollar growth driver for Snap."
Perplexity integration aborted
Meanwhile, a much-publicised integration deal between Snap and Perplexity AI has also fallen through, according to the newsletter.
The agreement would have seen Perplexity pay $400 million in cash and equity to embed its AI answer engine within Snapchat. Snap had hoped the partnership would become a model for future integrations with AI assistants.
However, the rollout was delayed due to disagreements over terms, Snap said during its most recent earnings call. The planned payment would have accounted for roughly 7% of Snap’s projected 2025 revenue.
