Amnon Shashua’s AI firm cuts over 60% of staff after sale talks collapse - ynetnews

Ah, another AI startup's bubble bursts with a sound suspiciously like 110 career paths hitting the pavement. The plan? Abandon standalone model sales and huddle around 'Maestro,' an AI agent optimization platform, because when your flagship product isn't selling, you pivot to selling the spanners that tighten the bolts on someone else's product.

This is, of course, the same AI21 Labs that once boasted about challenging OpenAI and Google with its Jurassic models. Now they're retreating into a niche corner already crowded with similar 'orchestration' tools. The failed Nebius deal — rumoured to be worth a tidy sum — apparently didn't survive due diligence, and neither did 110 jobs. One has to admire the chutzpah of claiming 'strategic focus' while sacking over half your team.

The wider lesson: the AI sector's favourite pastime remains making grand promises and then executing a hasty retreat to 'refocus on core strengths.' Expect more of these announcements as investors grow tired of funding models that never quite become the next big thing. Raise a glass to the 110 newly minted freelancers — at least they have a great story about the time their company was supposedly valued at billions.