CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa joins 'Money Movers' to discuss Google's buyouts for certain parts of the company.

Google has initiated voluntary buyouts for employees in multiple divisions, notably including its core search and advertising teams. This move reflects a wider trend among major tech firms to quietly restructure their workforces in response to the growing emphasis on artificial intelligence and the need for cost discipline.

The company’s actions follow increased capital expenditure on AI infrastructure and a flattening of hiring rates after previous periods of rapid growth. Similar patterns are observed at other tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, where voluntary exits and subtle reorganizations are replacing large-scale layoffs. These changes come as companies seek to balance high AI-related costs with operational efficiency, while also adapting to shifting dynamics in online advertising and search traffic.

Google buyouts highlight tech's cost-cutting amid AI CapEx boom

Google now offering some voluntary buyouts to employees across several divisions, even hitting its core search and advertising units, could be the latest sign of how tech is reshaping its workforce around AI. That is the focus of today's Tech Check with Deirdre Bosa. This was quite a headline yesterday, Dean. It was. Hey, Carl, good morning. So, quiet restructuring, emphasis on quiet, this is the new norm in big tech. It's part cost discipline, part AI era reality, and making way for a new kind of workforce. Now, we're here at the Databricks Summit in San Francisco. This is an AI startup, Darling, that is competing with the likes of Google and OpenAI for Talent. So, we're going to talk to CEO Ali Ghodsi later today about how he's shaping his workforce and whether that means that he is hiring differently. Now, the interesting part of Google's latest buyouts is that it's reaching into its search and ad teams. That is still its core profit engine, suggesting that even those units are being reevaluated in light of new priorities and possibly shrinking headcount needs. In fact, if you look at the trajectory of Alphabet's hiring over the last few years, it flattened out after pandemic hiring, even with AI ramping. So, you see continued revenue growth, the top line each quarter, but with less employees. Now, there's a similar trend at Amazon, Microsoft, Meta that are also spending big on AI. Earlier sweeping layoffs, they made headlines, but more recently, it's been more of a slow motion reorg through voluntary exits, performance nudges, return to office mandates. Now, Google's memo makes the subtext pretty clear. In the memo to employees, which our Jen Elias got a hold of, a Google executive wrote, if you don't feel aligned, this is your exit path. So, in other words, stay if you're on board with this strategy, i.e., AI through everything. Leave quietly if you are not. Now, Google's buyouts, they follow comments from its CFO, who said that one of her top priorities this year is cost cutting to offset a surge in AI infrastructure spending. For investors, this could signal operating leverage ahead. In fact, Wedbush calls the search and ads buyouts margin positive, suggesting that AI is ramping fast enough to outrun any near-term slowdown in Google's core business, which, guys, could be a whole separate tech check segment. I realize you know that we are tracking all of the latest data and talking to people on the ground. It is still unclear how well search and ads are really holding up, whether cloud AI gains are enough to offset some of that pressure or whether it signals a much bigger existential shift. And we just don't know right now. And that's probably contributing to the reason why you have this sort of massive shift but happening very quietly in the workforces across big tech. So, are you saying that you expect some big layoff announcements to come? It's quiet now, but if the cost cutting continues and the spending? Yeah, I mean, even Google, they did a big layoff, a bigger layoff earlier in the year. And then, you know, executives came back and saw how that affected morale. So, they're trying this sort of soft reorganization way for now to see if that works better. But it could signal layoffs ahead. I mean, we showed you the charts of CapEx, how much all these companies are spending. Something's got to make way for that. But at the same time, you see that these workforces are becoming more efficient thanks to AI tools. So, it's a give and take. And obviously, the executives, right up to the CFO, are watching this very carefully to see where they can shift. Also, keep in mind that the talent wars that are ongoing are taking some very, very big chunks out of financials, right? You get as much as $20 million over four years for a senior AI scientist. So, something's got to give to make way for those kinds of paychecks. The last thing, Dee, was this story in the journal yesterday looking at what Search is doing to, say, the traffic on news sites. And they quote some, the head of The Atlantic is telling their employees, you basically have to assume that eventually that traffic diversion from Google on Search is going to go to zero or near zero. And that's where so much uncertainty is, right? The publishers, the merchants that have become so accustomed to doing it the old way of the 10 blue links and getting paid for that. What happens to them in the AI era? I will tell you that there are whole startups dedicated to this instead of having SEO, right? That's how you optimize for Search. You have something to optimize for AI. And Google itself is experimenting in bigger and bigger ways with how to put advertising, how to get merchants and publishers paid in its chatbot world with AI overviews.

A mass shooting in Anaconda triggers community shock and concern, as witnesses share their experiences and the investigation unfolds amid rising tensions.

Anaconda

Community in shock following deadly shooting in Anaconda

U.S. President Donald Trump said he's ordered his administration to fire the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the same day new data was released showing weak job growth in July. The Labor Department also sharply revised job growth for May and June down.

Washington

Trump orders firing of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner

U.S. President Donald Trump says he ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the "appropriate regions" as a response to comments made by Russia's former president. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata reports.

Trump says nuclear submarines moved in response to Russia

Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to a Bryan, Texas, prison, CBS News confirms. Maxwell was previously held in Tallahassee, Florida.

Bryan

Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to Texas prison

The announcement comes as international pressure mounts on Israel over the war in Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Ljubljana

Middle East Conflict

Slovenia becomes first EU country to ban arms trade with Israel

The United States imposed sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials just as other nations are stressing the importance of the PA in governing Gaza in the event of an end to the devastating war in the enclave.

New York

U.S. sanctions Palestinian Authority in growing diplomatic rift

Ukraine’s Parliament has reversed a controversial law signed last week by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which would have allowed the government greater control over anti-corruption agencies. The decision comes as the country faces one of its most significant political crises since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine parliament reverses bill on anti-corruption agencies amid crisis

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order increasing tariffs on Canadian goods that don't meet the terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement to 35 per cent.

Ottawa

Global Tariffs

Trump raises Canada tariff to 35%, grants extension to Mexico

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 31 in a bid to salvage Gaza truce talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine is unfolding.

Jerusalem

Trump's envoy meets Netanyahu for Gaza aid, ceasefire push

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is visiting Israel as more countries join the call to recognize a Palestinian state in September. CBS News' Robert Berger has the latest.

Trump envoy in Israel as Canada joins call on Palestinian statehood

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.

Trump says U.S. will set 15% tariff on South Korean imports

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a "witch hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from heavier levies.

Rio de Janeiro

Trump hits Brazil with tariffs, sanctions but key sectors excluded

Widespread damage from tsunami waves after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded appears to have been largely avoided. Experts say this event should be used to gauge disaster preparedness for a more serious situation in the future.

Okinawa

Tsunami damage less severe than feared after Russian earthquake

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will recognize a Palestinian state later this year if the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, meets certain conditions.

Canada to recognize Palestinian state in September if conditions met

Australia said on Wednesday (July 30) it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.

Canberra

Australia expands teen social media ban to YouTube

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (July 30) the United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India, as well as an unspecified penalty for buying Russian weapons and oil, on Aug. 1.

Trump says U.S. to hit India with 25% tariff starting August 1

Mourners flooded the streets of Birmingham to celebrate the life of rock-and-roll legend Ozzy Osbourne during his funeral procession in the United Kingdom. Mark Savage, a music reporter at the BBC, a CBS News partner, joins with more details.

Birmingham

Ozzy Osbourne fans flood Birmingham streets to mourn late music icon

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters before departing from Scotland that Jeffrey Epstein poached workers from his Mar-a-Lago spa. Trump mentioned Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, in his latest remarks.

Trump says Epstein 'stole' young women from Mar-a-Lago spa

Owdeh Hathaleen, a 31-year‑old Palestinian activist, teacher, and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the village of Umm al‑Khair in the South Hebron Hills.

Palestinian activist killed by Israeli settler in West Bank

A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 16 feet nearby, and sparked evacuation orders in Japan, Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday (July 30).

Hawaii

Tsunami reaches Hawaii after huge quake shakes Russia's Far East

The U.N. General Assembly brought high-level officials together to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel and the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia

Israel and U.S. boycott UN Summit for two-state solution

With numerous countries facing an Aug. 1 trade agreement deadline, officials in the Trump administration say China could get an extension while negotiations continue.

Trump officials suggest potential tariff truce with China

Police say the man who shot and killed four people in a New York City office building before he took his own life had a "documented mental health history." Mayor Eric Adams says he may have been targeting the National Football League (NFL).

Manhattan gunman had 'documented mental health history'

Jeffrey Epstein-associate Ghislaine Maxwell is offering to testify before Congress in exchange for concessions like full immunity. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

Ghislaine Maxwell offers to testify before Congress

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday (July 29) Britain was prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.

London

UK to recognize Palestinian state unless Israel takes action

Russia launched overnight air strikes on over 70 Ukrainian cities, killing more than 20 people, according to President Zelenskyy. A pregnant woman died near a hospital in the southeast, while a prison strike killed at least 17.

Deadly Russian air raids hit Ukraine as Trump warns of sanctions

For the first time, human rights groups inside Israel are accusing their own government of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel insists it is targeting Hamas, not civilians—despite nearly 60,000 Palestinian deaths since the war began almost two years ago.

Rights groups in Israel accuse country of genocide

As Gaza’s crisis worsens, France is advocating for a two-state solution at a UN conference co-chaired by the French foreign minister. The meeting follows President Macron’s announcement that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September.

France leads UN talks on Israel-Palestine two-state solution

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was found guilty of bribery and witness tampering in an unprecedented trial that has shaken the country.

Bogotá

Ex-Colombian president Uribe convicted of witness tampering, bribery

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media that President Trump's deadline push for a ceasefire with Ukraine is "a threat and a step towards war."

Breakdown