Soundhound, an AI voice company SoundHound, has reportedly laid off half of its workforce
SoundHound, the company who once stated it wanted to The market leader in AI voice has reported that it has cut half of its workforce. According to As part of a restructuring process, about 200 employees were laid off by the company last week. If Gizmodo’s If the reporting is correct, this mass layoff would be SoundHound’s second in less than one year. The company reported that it had laid off 2,000 employees in November. . SoundHound employed around 450 people before the first round.
Three former employees spoke out about their experiences. Gizmodo described a “pitiful” severance package contingent on the company raising more money. The package does not include healthcare and two weeks of severance. The company did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. SoundCloud was made public by a special-purpose acquisition firm in the early 2022. According to data from The firm has raised over $300 million so far. SoundHound customers are Pandora, Mercedes-Benz, and Snap.
In an email that was received by GizmodoSoundHound CEO Keyvan Mhajer, co-founder and SoundHound founder, blamed recent macroeconomic conditions for the layoffs. “When we set course in early 2021 to become publicly listed, high-tech companies like SoundHound were the darlings of the investor community. Companies who could achieve high growth, despite high costs, were seen as engines of a future economy, ” he wrote. “However, as a result of changing economic conditions, including high interest rates, rising inflation, and fears of recession, companies with our profile became much less desirable.” Mohajer reportedly went on to add investors “were concerned” SoundHound did “not have the heart to let go of its people.”
Mass layoffs at tech companies have been frequent in recent months. Facebook parent Meta cut approximately 7,000 jobs at the start of November. More than 11,000 people lost their jobs in the move. Amazon has been a major player in recent years. expanded the scope More than 18,000 employees will be affected by the company-wide cuts.