Pinterest is Cutting Nearly 15% of Staff as Focus Shifts onto AI

Pinterest has been pushing AI harder and harder in terms of shopping and ads. This week, the push came in a form that employees couldn't help but notice.

Pinterest announced that they are reducing their workforce by almost 15 percent and their office footprint. It is being referred to as a reset, but to the people inside the company, it is something much simpler: before and after.

The justification is a familiar buzzword, reallocation. Pinterest says the restructuring is meant to shift resources toward AI focused roles, prioritize AI powered products, and reshape its sales and go to market approach.

The company plans to finish the cuts by the end of September, with expected pre tax charges of 35 million to 45 million dollars. It is also closing smaller office spaces tied to past acquisitions.

If you are wondering why a company can say AI and still watch its stock slide, you are not alone. Pinterest shares fell roughly 9 to 10 percent as investors are starting to treat AI restructuring as a risk signal when the payoff is still vague.

In a crowded ad market where TikTok and Meta are aggressive, the fear is that Pinterest is spending heavily on the future while the present stays brutally competitive.

Pinterest has not been quiet about what it wants AI to do. It has rolled out a Pinterest Assistant for shopping, added AI powered updates to boards, and pushed Performance+ tools meant to automate ad campaigns.

The detail that matters now is whether this becomes a clean pivot that unlocks better ad performance and new shopping behavior, or whether it turns into another case where AI is the neat explanation for a decision that was coming anyway.