Pinterest shares registered a big decline, dropping more than 10%, after the company announced plans to lay off nearly 15% of its workforce and cut back on real estate. The development means hundreds of jobs are gone, and comes as Pinterest rushes to plug artificial intelligence into everything it does.
The company said in a securities filing that the layoffs will be wrapped up by late September, just as the third quarter closes. At last count, Pinterest had over 4,500 employees globally. These cuts mean roughly 600 to 675 workers will be gone before fall. They’re also expecting to take a $35 to $45 million hit in pre-tax restructuring charges. Most of it will come from severance costs and scaling back office leases.
Pinterest favors AI amid restructuring moves
According to its announcement, the layoffs are not just happening as Pinterest made it clear it’s shifting its entire structure to revolve around AI. It said it’s “reallocating resources” to AI-heavy teams and cutting from areas that don’t align with that goal. That includes reworking how the company handles sales and marketing, making AI central to its operations.
Pinterest said it’s focused on building out AI-powered features. Back in October, it launched a tool called the “Pinterest Assistant,” meant to help users shop on the platform with smarter search. And for advertisers, the platform has started pushing automated ad tech, designed to make it easier for marketers to get results with less manual setup.
In a statement in November 2025, CEO Bill Ready said, “Our investments in AI and product innovation are paying off.” He called Pinterest a leader in visual search and said it’s now an AI-powered shopping assistant for 600 million people. That’s a big number. But Wall Street didn’t bite. The stock still tanked, and investors clearly didn’t love the restructuring news.
Pinterest is not the only firm cutting jobs due to AI. Over the past year, about 55,000 US workers lost their jobs due to AI-related shifts, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Companies across industries are cutting people and replacing them with AI tools that can do tasks faster and cheaper. Whether that’s really true or just an excuse is still a cause for debate.
The wave of AI-related layoffs isn’t stopping at Pinterest. Amazon is planning a second round of corporate cuts next week, aiming for a total of 30,000 office jobs cut. Two sources familiar with the company’s internal discussions said the next wave could hit as early as Tuesday. Amazon already axed 14,000 white-collar jobs back in October, tying the cuts to the rise of AI software.
