Snap cuts ~1,000 roles, cites AI

Snap is cutting about 1,000 jobs, or 16% of its full-time staff, as it says artificial intelligence will let smaller teams move faster. (newsroom.snap.com) Chief Executive Evan Spiegel told employees on April 15 that Snap is also closing more than 300 open roles. He said the company expects the changes to cut its annualized cost base by more than $500 million by the second half of 2026. (newsroom.snap.com) In the same memo, Spiegel said advances in artificial intelligence can “reduce repetitive work” and “increase velocity,” and pointed to gains in Snapchat+, ad performance, and the company’s lightweight Snap Lite app. CNBC reported Snap told investors that artificial intelligence agents now generate more than 65% of its new code and handle more than 1 million queries a month. (newsroom.snap.com) (cnbc.com) The cuts land as Snap tries to turn revenue growth into durable profits. Reuters reported the company had 5,261 full-time employees at the end of December and said first-quarter 2026 revenue is expected to rise about 12% to roughly $1.53 billion. (finance.yahoo.com) The layoffs also follow pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which disclosed an economic interest of about 2.5% and urged broader cost cuts. Reuters reported Irenic had specifically pushed Snap to eliminate about 1,000 jobs and rethink its augmented reality glasses business after more than $3.5 billion in investment. (finance.yahoo.com) Snap has cut staff before. In August 2022, the company said it would reduce headcount by about 20%, and this new round shows how much pressure still sits on a business competing against larger ad platforms and newer artificial intelligence startups. (nytimes.com) (cnbc.com) For affected workers in the United States, Snap said it will provide four months of severance, healthcare coverage, equity vesting, and career-transition support. The company told North America employees to work from home on April 15 while notifications went out. (newsroom.snap.com) Investors initially welcomed the move: Snap shares rose about 7% on April 15, though Reuters said the stock was still down about 31% for 2026 at that point. The company is betting that leaner teams and more automation will do what past restructurings did not: produce steady net-income profitability. (cnbc.com) (finance.yahoo.com)