Microsoft is set to lay off thousands of employees, primarily in its sales division, as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and ramp up investment in artificial intelligence.

The planned cuts follow a previous round in May, which saw about 6,000 roles eliminated, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The tech giant has significantly increased its investments in artificial intelligence, aiming to strengthen its leadership position as businesses across various sectors race to embed AI into their products and services to stay competitive.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday that the rise of generative AI and AI agents is expected to shrink the company’s corporate workforce over the coming years.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has earmarked $80 billion in capital spending for this fiscal year, with the bulk allocated to expanding data center infrastructure to address capacity constraints driven by growing demand for AI services.

The report noted that the layoffs are likely to be announced early next month, after the conclusion of Microsoft’s fiscal year.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.