Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

According to reports in the morning of September 15, Beijing time, Google is shrinking its internal new project incubator Area 120, according to people familiar with the matter. Recently, Google is reining in spending and focusing more on artificial intelligence.

Some Area 120 teams were notified this week that their projects had been restructured or cancelled, according to people familiar with the matter. Affected employees need to find new jobs within Google within a period of time, or they will be laid off. According to the source, half of the Area 120 team was affected.

Area 120s "will refocus on projects that build on Google's deep investment in artificial intelligence and may solve important user problems", an Area spokesman said in a statement. "as a result, Google 120 is gradually scaling back a number of projects to make way for new jobs. Affected team members will receive special support as they explore new projects and opportunities within Google."

Area 120 will continue to incubate new projects, according to people familiar with the matter.

During business adjustments in recent years, Google usually gives affected employees a window to find new roles internally. However, employees are likely to face an uphill struggle, especially as Google's overall hiring slows.

Founded in 2016, Area 120 provides some employees with entrepreneurial opportunities within Google. Area 120's website says: "many of Google's best ideas start with projects of interest." One of the most successful projects of the incubator is GameSnack. This is a game platform launched in 2020 for users who use low-end phones on low-speed mobile networks.

Google has recently been sending signals to employees and capital markets that it will impose stricter financial discipline in the face of a potential recession. In an email to employees in July, Sandal Sundar Pichai, Alphabet chief executive, said Google planned to "focus on engineering, technology and other key positions" for the rest of this year and next.

However, other departments of Alphabet continue to increase their fees. Verily, a life sciences company owned by Alphabet, announced this week that it had raised $1 billion in a new round of financing led by its parent company. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, the brokerage, said a series of changes showed that Alphabet was giving priority to short-term real gains rather than "pie in the sky" innovation.

"Google, like all other technology companies, will have to make some tough decisions," he said. without more idle money, investors do not want these companies to spend as lavishly as rock stars in the 1980s. "

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