# AI Search Wars and Corporate Restructuring Trends

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-05-21

## Transcript

This is TechCrunch.
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Introducing Ask YouTube.
I'm Iran Shaikh and your Thursday Daily Crunch starts right now.
Yesterday's big news was Google's plan to blow up its traditional search in favor of an AI-powered experience.
But Google isn't the only company planning for the next generation of discoverability.
You see, this morning, Bloomberg has news of the Andreessen-backed Exilabs, which has raised $250 million against a $2.5 billion valuation to go after the same market.
And it's part of a wave of startups all chasing that AI search, which has quietly become one of the most attractive targets in consumer AI.
We're also seeing conventional tech platforms like Amazon, LinkedIn, and Reddit looking to AI to revamp their search and discoverability features.
So there'll be plenty of potential acquirers if any of the startups start looking to sell.
The biggest competitor is ChatGPT, of course, which still owns the interface layer, and prior to the Google launch, was handling the vast majority of the AI-powered searches taking place on any given day.
But OpenAI can't make search a priority, and Google has an ad business to protect, which could leave room for a smaller lab like Exa or Parallel to carve out a niche for itself.
Enterprise software giant Intuit is letting go 17% of its staff, or about 3,000 people, as it seeks to divert resources towards baking an AI into its products.
Reuters reported this, citing an internal memo sent to employees.
The memo by CEO Cezanne Godarzy said the layoffs are meant to reduce complexity by simplifying the company's corporate structure and help it focus on AI efforts, according to Reuters.
Now, the company, which makes accounting, tax and personal finance software like TurboTax, QuickBooks and Credit Karma, had 18,200 employees worldwide as of July 2025, according to its annual report.
Intuit didn't immediately return a request for comment or respond to questions about whether its management, directors, or its CEO would take a pay cut.
Ghadarzi's salary was worth $36.8 million, including cash incentives and stock awards during fiscal 2025.
The layoffs come during a bad year for the tech workforce.
The tech industry has already cut more than 100,000 jobs this year per Statista and is on track to outpace both 2024 and 2025 if the layoff trend can Companies like Amazon, Block, Cisco, Cloudflare, Meta, Microsoft, and even good old Oracle have let go of thousands of employees each, all echoing one another and citing a need to refocus expenditures around AI projects as a reason to cut jobs and restructure their organizations.
At the same time, all of these companies have recently reported strong revenues and profits, citing the apparent strong demand for AI products, services, or the infrastructure to power AI.
Nearly all these companies' share prices have risen too, as investors bet that AI will serve as a new avenue of growth for software companies everywhere.
Google is completely revamping its search experience, and that doesn't stop at YouTube.
You see, like the rest of Google, YouTube's search bar is getting infused with AI tools like Ask YouTube, a feature that's supposed to give users a more sophisticated search experience.
With Ask YouTube, you can ask more complex search queries, such as wanting tips on how to teach your kid to ride a bike, or finding creator reviews of cozy games to play before bedtime, the company explained.
It went on to say you can even ask follow-up questions to continue refining what you're looking for.
YouTube will compile both Shorts and long-form videos and generate a response.
Premium subscribers in the US on desktop can start using this feature right now through YouTube's optional premium offerings to test new tools.
And the company also announced that it's adding Gemini Omni, Google's new AI video model, to YouTube Shorts Remix and the YouTube Create app.
Now, other companies like Meta and OpenAI have seen mixed reception when pushing for AI use in shorts.
OpenAI even sunsetted its social app Sora, where users could post and share their AI-generated slop, I mean clips.
But YouTube seems to be rolling this out in a manner that feels a bit less front and center.
YouTube's also expanding its likeness detection tool to creators 18 and older, which is supposed to help prevent creators from being deepfaked in other people's AI content.
If a creator sees themselves misrepresented in AI videos, they can request that the video be removed.
Since this feature is only now expanding more broadly, it remains to be seen how effective it'll be.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Russell Brandom-Rahmeyer, Amanda Silberling, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow, same Tech Time, same Crunch channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.
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