Amazon’s Twitch Cuts More than 500 Jobs Attempting to Turn Expensive Platform Profitable

The logo for live-streaming video platform Twitch is seen on Nov. 4, 2017, at the Paris games week in Paris, France. (AP)
The logo for live-streaming video platform Twitch is seen on Nov. 4, 2017, at the Paris games week in Paris, France. (AP)
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Amazon’s Twitch Cuts More than 500 Jobs Attempting to Turn Expensive Platform Profitable

The logo for live-streaming video platform Twitch is seen on Nov. 4, 2017, at the Paris games week in Paris, France. (AP)
The logo for live-streaming video platform Twitch is seen on Nov. 4, 2017, at the Paris games week in Paris, France. (AP)

Twitch, the video game streaming platform acquired by Amazon a decade ago for close to $1 billion, is laying off more than 500 employees as the company tries to turn the tremendously expensive division profitable.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy in an email to employees said that even with cost cuts and growing efficiency, the platform “is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business.”

“For some time now the organization has been sized based upon where we optimistically expect our business to be in 3 or more years, not where we’re at today,” Clancy wrote.

Amazon purchased Twitch Interactive in 2014 for $970 million as it looked for a way to take part in video gaming’s growth as an online spectator sport.

Twitch is a multi-channel online network built for a generation of people raised with video games and like to watch some of the best gamers in the world as many people watch professional sports.

Last month Twitch, based in San Francisco, said that it was withdrawing from the South Korean market due to expensive network fees. Clancy said at the time that the network fees the company has been paying to South Korean internet operators were 10 times more than in most other markets. He did not provide specific numbers to back such claims.

“As you all know, we have worked hard over the last year to run our business as sustainably as possible," Clancy wrote. “Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step to reduce our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch.”



SDAIA Receives Recognition for Innovative Projects at WSIS Summit in Geneva

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
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SDAIA Receives Recognition for Innovative Projects at WSIS Summit in Geneva

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA

The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) received certificates for its nominated projects, which were recognized among the best entries at the 2025 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes held in Geneva, Switzerland, highlighting SDAIA’s innovative contributions to the fields of data and artificial intelligence (AI).

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields.

Out of 973 submissions from various countries, they were chosen after an expert evaluation conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), SPA reported.

The nominated projects included the government cloud-computing platform “Deem,” which provides integrated and flexible cloud services for government entities; the “Nafath” application for biometric identity verification; the “Serti” service within the “Tawakkalna” app that enables users to display their certified academic qualifications; the “Tahseen” project, which uses AI to restore and enhance historical media; and the “Allam” and “Sawtak” projects, both of which represent a significant leap in supporting and processing Arabic using large language models and speech recognition technologies.

These achievements reflect the Kingdom’s commitment, through SDAIA, to reinforcing its global standing as a trusted authority in data and AI, advancing the national digital transformation agenda, and supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. They also contribute to enhancing the Kingdom’s regional and international competitiveness in technology and innovation.