Patreon lays off off 20% of its workforce

Patreon is laying disconnected 20% of its workforce, oregon 93 people, CEO Jack Conte told employees connected Thursday. In a memo to unit that was shared online by the company, Conte said Patreon’s halfway concern is beardown but that the level has to respond to marketplace changes and set its outgo operation to stay stable, which is wherefore it needs to marque the “painful” but indispensable cuts.

Conte wrote that “AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry,” and that the gait of alteration has “never been much intense.” However, Conte went connected to enactment that Patreon isn’t making the cuts due to the fact that it wants to regenerate employees with AI.

“To beryllium wide astir the interaction of AI connected today’s decision: we are not making the supra changes due to the fact that we judge AI replaces humans,” helium wrote. “The much we person learned to usage these caller tools, the clearer it has go that they are not substitutes for the creativity, judgment, item orientation, oregon craftsmanship that our teammates person successful spades, nor bash they regenerate the tendency for quality transportation that each of america cherish truthful deeply. That’s my idiosyncratic opinion, but much importantly, it’s the instauration of Patreon’s strategy: our merchandise imaginativeness and concern are some predicated connected the worth of quality creativity and quality connection.”

He continued, “AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry, though, including however we work, however we physique products, however we communicate, and more. That does person an interaction connected however we run and organize.”

Beyond the headcount reduction, Conte said Patreon is besides restructuring however it operates, “flattening” its organizational illustration and refocusing teams astir its apical priorities. Affected employees volition person astatine slightest 16 weeks of severance pay, positive an further week for each twelvemonth worked, healthcare sum done the extremity of the year, and a $1,500 stipend to regenerate their institution laptop.

Last week, Patreon announced that it was partnering with net infrastructure supplier Cloudflare to straight artifact entree to AI bots designed to bid their AI models connected creators’ enactment without permission. The institution said it had to heighten its efforts connected this beforehand due to the fact that AI scraping has go much sophisticated. The determination came arsenic online publishers and creators are grappling with AI companies utilizing their enactment to bid AI models.

Patreon’s latest circular of layoffs is the platform’s largest since it chopped 17% of its unit backmost successful 2022. During that earlier circular of layoffs, Patreon besides closed its offices successful Berlin and Dublin.