Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jul 23
Patreon Cuts 20% of Staff, Eliminating About 93 Jobs as It Embraces AI Shift
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jul 23

Patreon Cuts 20% of Staff, Eliminating About 93 Jobs as It Embraces AI Shift

3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Jul 23

Summary

  • About 93 Patreon employees are being laid off, a 20% workforce cut the company disclosed in an internal memo.
  • CEO Jack Conte said the move was driven not by a belief that AI replaces people, but by AI's broad impact on how Patreon builds products, communicates and organizes work.
  • Conte had already said last month that Patreon was "100 percent embracing" AI tools internally and warned the company could be "dead in three years" if it failed to adapt.
  • The layoffs follow an earlier retrenchment in 2022, when Patreon cut 17% of staff and closed its Dublin and Berlin offices.

Insights

Patreon is firing staff over AI. Can it still protect its creators from the same technology's threat?
Can Patreon's pivot to a media network save creators from the 'AI slop' flooding bigger platforms?