German translation tool startup DeepL has announced plans to lay off approximately 25% of its workforce, or around 250 employees, from its current total of slightly over 1,000 staff. CEO Jaroslaw Kutylowski stated that the layoffs are due to significant structural changes brought about by AI. To enable the company to collaborate more effectively with AI, it is necessary to reduce hierarchy, accelerate decision-making, and minimize communication time. Currently, the tech industry is experiencing an intensifying wave of layoffs, with AI tools replacing some of the work done by programmers. Tech companies are shifting their resources toward their own AI products, with both Meta and Microsoft having already implemented layoffs. Founded in 2017, DeepL was once a competitor to Google Translate but now faces competition from emerging AI tools like ChatGPT. In 2024, DeepL completed a $300 million funding round, reaching a valuation of $2 billion, and had considered going public in the U.S.