Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. plans to cut about 16 per cent of its workforce, roughly 1,000 jobs, citing rapid advances in artificial intelligence, according to an internal memo sent to staff on Wednesday.

The move is part of a broader wave of tech industry layoffs over the past year, with many companies attributing job cuts to AI-driven efficiencies.

The layoffs come weeks after pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, whose portfolio manager urged CEO Evan Spiegel in a letter to slash costs and reduce headcount while also criticizing the company’s strategy.

In his memo to employees, Spiegel said the restructuring is intended to push Snap toward profitability and suggested that AI could help offset the reduced workforce by taking over certain tasks.

“While these changes are necessary to realize Snap’s long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers,” Spiegel wrote.

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is among a growing list of tech firms that have carried out large-scale layoffs during the artificial intelligence boom.

Companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, and Block, the financial services firm led by Jack Dorsey, have collectively cut tens of thousands of jobs while shifting greater focus toward AI tools and arguing that the technology enables higher productivity with fewer workers.

Although Spiegel said in an internal memo that Snap had already begun seeing productivity gains from AI adoption, some experts and workers argue the actual benefits remain less clear-cut.

Critics, including former employees and even some AI-supportive executives, have accused companies of “AI-washing” layoffs—suggesting that firms may be overstating AI’s role in job cuts to appeal to investors and market expectations.