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YouTube offers voluntary buyouts as company reorganizes around AI
A Youtube podcast microphone is seen at the Variety Podcasting Brunch Presented By YouTube at Austin Proper Hotel in Austin, Texas, on March 8, 2025.
Mat Hayward | Variety | Getty Images
YouTube is offering voluntary buyouts with severance for U.S.-based employees as it restructures its product organization to focus more on artificial intelligence.
The move comes as Google CEO Sundar Pichai pushes employees to boost productivity by using AI across the company.
In an internal memo to staff, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the platform is reorganizing its product teams for the first time in a decade.
“Looking to the future, the next frontier for YouTube is AI,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. The buyouts were first reported by Alex Heath at Sources.
YouTube said no roles are being eliminated as part of the change.
Under the new structure, three product groups will now report directly to Mohan.
Christian Oestlien, previously vice president of product management, will lead the subscription products division, which oversees YouTube Music and Premium, YouTube TV, Primetime Channels, Podcasts and Commerce.
Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich will lead the viewer products team, which covers YouTube’s main app, Living Room, Search and Discovery, YouTube Kids, Learning and Trust and Safety.
Companies across the tech industry are reshaping their workforces as they adapt to rapid advances in AI while also reckoning with other challenges, like higher costs from tariffs. On Tuesday, Amazon announced plans to lay off about 14,000 corporate employees as it invests in AI initiatives.
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