Compiled by the editorial desk with reference to The Information report, public statements from IBM and Bild, and industry analyses from McKinsey and Goldman Sachs.

Google is reportedly moving some of its advertising sales workforce to other roles or out of the company altogether, as the firm's newer AI-powered tools take over tasks once handled by humans. The shift, detailed in a report by The Information, signals how even the companies building this technology are not immune to its effects on employment.

The exact number of employees affected remains unclear, but the report says that at one point, nearly half of Google's 30,000-person ad division was dedicated to selling ads for specific services. Many of those roles are now being automated by tools like Performance Max, which can generate ad creatives and adjust campaigns in real time based on click-through rates—work that previously required manual effort.

Google earlier this year announced a "new era of AI-powered ads," emphasizing that AI would help "deliver new ad experiences." These include automatically created assets that pull from existing ads and landing pages. According to The Information, a growing number of advertisers have adopted Performance Max, reducing the need for staff who specialized in selling ads for particular Google services.

Why the Shift Matters

Advertising is a major revenue source for Google, and cutting staff in that division could improve profit margins. However, the move also adds to a growing list of examples where AI is changing the employment landscape. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg earlier this year that the company is slowing or suspending hiring for roles that AI could handle. He estimated that "30 percent of that could be replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," which would translate to roughly 7,800 jobs.

In the media sector, German tabloid Bild, owned by Axel Springer, announced it would part ways with colleagues whose tasks "in the digital world are performed by AI and/or automated processes," according to a leaked email obtained by Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Some smaller companies have already made the switch. Suumit Shah, CEO of Indian e-commerce platform Dukaan, told the Washington Post in October that replacing his customer service team with a bot was a "no-brainer." He described the bot as "100 times smarter" and costing "100th" of the previous support team's wages.

Broader Job Market Impact

The trend is not limited to tech giants. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute suggests the pace of AI-driven job changes could accelerate faster than expected. Goldman Sachs research from earlier this year projected that roughly 300 million jobs worldwide could be affected by AI in the coming years.

For Google, the move is a practical step toward efficiency, but it also raises questions about the social cost of automation. As AI tools become more capable, the balance between technological progress and workforce stability remains a delicate one.