Google laid off more than 12,000 employees last year, spending $2.1 billion on severance and other expenses. The company will spend another $700 million on employee severance payments in the first quarter of this year.

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) reported full-year revenue of $307 billion in 2023, a 9% increase from 2022.

“We had a strong fourth quarter (the quarter ended December 31) with consolidated revenue of $86.3 billion, up 13% from last year in both reported currency and constant currency terms. Search remains the largest contributor to revenue growth.” Chief said Treasurer Ruth Porat.

At this point in the quarter, the company expects first-quarter severance-related charges to be approximately $700 million “as we continue these efforts.”

“We continue to invest in top engineering. So if you start with product prioritization and organizational design, that’s a big thing, which is why also accounting for the expenses related to severance, which helps us continue to do the work we’re doing The work being done is paving the way,” Porat told analysts on an earnings call late Tuesday.

Google services revenue was $76.3 billion, an increase of 12%. Google search and other advertising revenue reached $48 billion in the quarter, up 13%, with growth again driven by retail growth. YouTube ad revenue hit $9.2 billion, up 16%, driven by direct response and brand advertising, the company said.

“Subscriptions are growing strongly, driven by YouTube Premium and Music, YouTube TV and Google One. Third, cloud computing, revenue exceeded $9 billion in the quarter and accelerated driven by our artificial intelligence and product leadership Growth,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google.

He added: “We have long been using artificial intelligence to improve many of our products, from search to advertising to most of our consumer and enterprise products, already helping billions of people.”

(This article has not been edited by News18 staff and is published by IANS, the associated news agency)