Verily

Alphabet's life sciences unit Verily has laid off an unspecified number of staff and discontinued its long-running medical devices program as part of a strategic refocus. Announced internally on August 26, 2025, these cuts are a continuation of the company's efforts since 2023 to streamline operations, reduce costs, and narrow its focus towards AI and developing infrastructure for other companies. The decision to wind down the devices program, which included projects like a clinical study watch and a retinal camera, directly led to a significant portion of the layoffs. As a subsidiary of Alphabet operating in the healthcare and life sciences industry, Verily is taking these difficult steps to put itself on a faster path to sustained commercial success and eventual independence from its parent company.

Verily, Alphabet's life sciences unit, laid off approximately 35 to 40 employees this week as part of a restructuring within its molecular sciences group. The affected staff were working on the Immune Profiler project, which focuses on studying the human immune system to improve disease management. This move is part of an ongoing cost-cutting drive, following a larger layoff of over 200 employees (15% of its workforce) in January 2023. The company, which operates in the health tech and life sciences industry as one of Alphabet's "Other Bets," is striving to become a profitable business and is currently undergoing a separation from Alphabet's infrastructure, with a deadline set for the end of 2024.

Verily laid off 250 employees representing approximately 15% of its workforce on 2023-01-11.