A leaked internal memo from Google, revealed by The Verge, outlines the company's plans for the new year, with a clear focus on AI. Despite concerns raised by employees, Google remains committed to advancing AI technology. The memo highlights that delivering the "world's most advanced, safe, and responsible AI" is Google's top priority for the coming year. However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai warns that achieving this goal will require tough choices, including reorganizing and eliminating some roles, as the company continues with its ongoing layoffs. In addition to these job cuts, Google is doubling down on its AI initiatives, such as its investment in the OpenAI competitor Anthropic and the integration of its AI chatbot Bard into Android smartphones. There are concerns that these endeavors are detracting from the company's core ventures and negatively impacting the thousands of employees who have lost their jobs. Some Google employees, such as software engineer Diane Theriault, have criticized the company's focus on AI and its leadership's decision-making.

The recent layoffs even affected Google's ad sales unit, which generated $168 billion in revenue in 2022. Google plans to automate more marketing jobs with AI, a move that could have significant implications for its biggest source of income. Amidst the criticism surrounding Google's emphasis on AI, it is worth noting that the proliferation of this technology has exposed flaws in the functionality of its search engine. Generative AI has led to an abundance of SEO spam and AI-generated webpages and images appearing in search results, frustrating both users and websites reliant on search ranking. Given these challenges, one might expect Google to prioritize addressing its search engine's deteriorating infrastructure. However, like other tech companies, Google has been swept up in the AI hype.