Google overhauls internal learning platform to focus on AI, ‘business priorities’

Google is overhauling a popular internal learning platform to focus on teaching employees how to use modern artificial intelligence tools in their daily work routines, CNBC has learned.

Grow, as the learning service is called, was previously filled with a wide array of courses, ranging from teaching Google employees how to build products, use 3D printers, help with their personal finance or even how to solve a Rubik’s cube. Those offerings have all been replaced primarily by AI-related courses.

The revamp underscores how companies, both within and outside of tech, are racing to train their employees on the advanced AI tools that have been created since OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 ushered in the age of generative AI.

Employees with previously scheduled Grow sessions were notified in the spring that the sessions they signed up for would be cancelled and that course materials would be archived, according to internal correspondence viewed by CNBC. Grow, which was started more than 10 years ago, had grown to more than 500,000 listings before the AI shakeup. Grow is popular among employees and is considered to be one of the unique perks of working at Google, according to sources and an internal discussion forum.

“We have an active learning culture with numerous in-house courses tied to company priorities, along with generous educational reimbursement,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our internal course offerings have ballooned since we launched it ten years ago, and we’re refreshing Grow to help employees find the most relevant learning opportunities.”

The move to overhaul Grow shows that Google is shifting away from some of its nice-to-have programs to more business-essential offerings as it streamlines operations to prioritize AI. As the company fights to retain its relevance in search amid a heated AI arms race, it has streamlined operations, headcount and employee benefits.

Google has enacted rolling layoffs within several units across the company, particularly after finance chief Anat Ashkenazi’s said last fall that the company could “push a little further” on cost cuts. Google, like many other tech giants, has also rolled back programs like its diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, trainings amid business streamlining as well as from President Trump’s executive orders.

In a memo sent out to employees who had created Grow courses, Google leaders wrote that many of the platform’s “courses were unused,” and “not relevant to the work we do today,” according to an internal message.

“Those that orgs have confirmed are up-to-date and focused on business priorities will still be available,” wrote Google’s people operations staff. 

Employees commented on an internal forum that the use of “focused on business priorities” reiterated a sign of the times — Google is primarily focused on programs that contribute to the bottom line.

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