San Francisco, January 10: Sam Altman-backed startup Humane has laid off four per cent of employees this week, the media reported. The company described the job cuts as a cost-cutting measure to those workers who were impacted. Employees were also recently told by leadership that budgets would be lowered this year, reports The Verge, citing sources.

The cuts, which include 10 workers, come ahead of the startup shipping its first device -- a $699, screenless, AI-powered pin that competes with smartphones. The co-founder and CEO of Humane, Bethany Bongiorno, took to LinkedIn to describe the cuts as “part of a wider refresh of our organisational structure as our company evolves with purpose for this next phase of growth," the report mentioned. Twitch Layoffs: Amazon-Owned Live Game Streaming Platform To Lay Off 35% of Its Workforce, Says Report.

In the post, she stated that founding CTO Patrick Gates "will also be transitioning to an advisor in order to spend more time with his family". She also mentioned that the company had promoted new heads of hardware, software, and people as part of a reorganisation. Parag Agrawal, Former Twitter CEO, Raises USD 30 Million for His AI Startup, New Company To Build Software for Developers of Large Language Model.

In December last year, Humane announced that its Ai Pin will start shipping in March 2024. "We are thrilled to announce that Ai Pin will start shipping in March 2024. All of us here at Humane can’t wait for you to experience your Ai Pin, the world’s first wearable computer powered by Ai," the company wrote on X.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2024 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).