Pinterest to lay off staff and shift resources to AI

The social media platform Pinterest is laying off as many as 675 workers, according to a new report from CNBC.

Why? Because the company is shifting its focus to AI, at least, in part.

In a securities filing submitted earlier this month, Pinterest specifically cited AI as one of the reasons for the planned reduction in force. The filing states that Pinterest plans on “reallocating resources” to teams with an AI focus and prioritizing “AI-powered products and capabilities.”

Pinterest’s layoffs are expected to hit just under 15 percent of its workforce, adding those employees to the growing number of people who have lost their jobs because of AI.

As CNBC also reported late last year, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that nearly 55,000 people lost their jobs in 2025 due to AI. Pinterest plans to have completed its cuts by Sept. 30, 2026.

The filing also says that Pinterest’s sales and marketing strategies are being reconfigured, which might be a hint as to which departments will be hit by layoffs.

Pinterest received praise from AI critics last October after becoming the first major social media platform to buck the trends and offer users the ability to filter out AI content from their feeds. Being that Pinterest is so heavily dependent on visual content, AI-generated slop was starting to inundate the platform. The negative reaction from users forced the platform to address this trend and provide users with options to remove the content. 

Despite this move, Pinterest has been increasingly focused on bringing more AI to the platform, like virtually all tech companies. In late October, Pinterest launched “Pinterest Assistant,” an AI-powered shopping tool on the platform.

Furthermore, earlier this year, rumors and discussions spread online about the possibility of AI giant OpenAI acquiring Pinterest, although there have been no substantiated reports about such an acquisition yet.