Patreon is cutting a fifth of its staff. Its founder wants you to know it is not because of AI. On Thursday the creator-payments company laid off 93 people, about 20% of its workforce, as 404 Media first reported. Chief executive Jack Conte called the day “painful” and took the blame himself.
“The people at Patreon are the core of our spirit,” he wrote. “As the person responsible for this decision, I don’t take that lightly.”
His explanation was not a business in trouble. Conte said the core was “healthy and strong”. More than 300,000 creators earn on the platform. It pays out billions a year, with steady monthly growth.
The problem, he said, was a market that had “undergone profound change over the last 6 months”. Patreon needed a leaner cost base to stay “a stable, dependable rock for our creators”.
Not because of AI
