The popular voice AI platform, SoundHound, has announcement the imminent layoff of 10% of its workforce. The company invokes difficult market conditions ».
A new wave of layoffs at SoundHound
SoundHound is a shadow business. This American company develops voice AI technology used by Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Telekom, Snapchat (with Voice Scan voice control), Mastercard and other large companies around the world. Today, SoundHound declares it has an obligation to part ways with 10% of its staff. The company calls for a globalized economic crisis in world markets. SoundHound made the announcement Nov. 9 from its offices in Santa Clara.
At the same time, the Californian company has also imposed wage reductions on some employees who have not been fired. On this matter, the company did not specify Pay cut detailsnor the number of people involved. A SoundHound spokesperson clarified that ” It is with sadness that we have announced to our employees that we are taking steps to streamline our business, including reducing our workforce by approximately 10%. ».
Management assures us not to take this lightly, but that in the face of such market conditions,” we must channel our investments into areas that continue to drive growth and allow us to better serve our customers “. SoundHound is part of his gratitude to the workers who are leaving the company and have contributed to its success as the leading voice AI platform. The initial team of 450 was amputated by around fifty employees.
Founded in 2005, SoundHound develops a speech AI platform in 25 languages. It powers voice experiences in a variety of vehicles, including Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Honda. At the same time SoundHound developed SoundHound Music, an application which works very similar to Apple’s Shazam. In November 2021, SoundHound announced its IPO via a SPAC. Enough to reach a valuation of almost 2.1 billion dollars. Five times the rating of Shazam when Apple got hold of it in 2018.
In its Q2 2022 results, SoundHound reported a 26% year-over-year decline in revenue. Its market capitalization, like that of many technology companies right now, not doing very well. It currently trades at around $2 a share, with a market cap of $406 million. SoundHound is the latest tech company to announce economic downturn-related layoffs, following Twitter and Meta (with 11,000 layoffs).
