Google has laid off employees in its Cloud division, including staff from its Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant, the cybersecurity firm it acquired in 2022. The cuts, confirmed through internal evaluations and reported by Business Insider, are part of a broader realignment to prioritize artificial intelligence development. While Google emphasized it regularly assesses internal structures to meet evolving industry demands, the move follows similar workforce reductions at Meta, Coinbase, and Cloudflare, all citing AI-focused reinvestment.

The affected teams include key cybersecurity units known for tracking global hacker activity and publishing threat reports. Employees from Mandiant and other Cloud divisions have confirmed the layoffs on professional networks like LinkedIn. Despite the cuts, Google AI CEO Demis Hassabis has publicly criticized the trend of reducing headcount to fund AI initiatives, arguing that increased developer productivity should lead to more innovation, not fewer jobs.

Hassabis, who leads Google DeepMind, stated he would welcome displaced engineers to work on high-impact AI projects, from drug discovery to game design. His comments come amid a wave of tech layoffs in 2026, exceeding 142,000 across the sector. The contrast between corporate restructuring and leadership vision highlights ongoing debate about how AI should reshape the tech workforce.