In a shocking development, Snap has laid off nearly 1,000 employees, which is 16% of its global workforce, citing advancements in AI for the cuts.
On Wednesday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel sent a memo, stating, “While these changes are necessary to realize Snap’s long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers.”
“We have already witnessed small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress across several important initiatives, including Snapchat+, enhanced ad platform performance, and efficiency improvements in our Snap Lite infrastructure,” the memo added.
Snap’s official further said that the company is closing over 300 open roles. Snap had nearly 5,261 full-time employees as of December 2025.
With the cuts, Snap will be able to minimise its annualised cost base by over $500 million by the second half of 2026, helping to “establish a clearer path to net-income profitability.”
In a presentation to investors, the company wrote, “Snap faces a crucible moment — squeezed between giants with enormous resources and nimble startups moving fast. To meet this moment, we are pivoting toward profitable growth.”
Snap's layoffs follow the company investing heavily in its augmented reality glasses unit, known as Specs, which is likely to release this year.
The company joins an increasing list of tech companies that laid off numerous employees this year, such as Oracle, Amazon, Meta.
