Svmuu reports that German startup DeepL, which develops translation tools, has announced plans to lay off approximately 25% of its employees. Company CEO Jarek Kutylowski attributed this move to a "massive structural shift" brought about by artificial intelligence. Kutylowski stated in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that around 250 employees will be laid off. The company currently has just over 1,000 employees. As AI tools replace tasks traditionally performed by programmers, and tech companies redirect resources into building their own AI products, layoffs across the tech industry are rapidly expanding. Meta announced plans last month to cut 10% of its workforce. Microsoft, meanwhile, offered buyout packages to about 7% of its US employees. Founded in 2017, DeepL initially positioned itself as a competitor to Google Translate, offering tools to help developers build multilingual applications. In recent years, the company has also faced competition from translation services offered by ChatGPT and other AI tools. DeepL raised $300 million in funding in 2024, achieving a valuation of $2 billion, and has previously considered an IPO in the United States. (Jin Shi)