Brave Software Cuts 9% of Staff Amid Economic Challenges

Brave Software, the company behind the popular Brave Browser and Brave Search, has recently confirmed a staff reduction of approximately 9% across multiple departments. While the exact number of affected employees was not disclosed, the company attributed this decision to the challenging economic conditions.

A spokesperson from Brave Software stated, "Brave eliminated some positions as part of our cost management in this challenging economic environment. Several departments were affected, amounting to 9% of our staff."

In an effort to diversify its revenue sources this year, Brave Software has made several strategic moves. In April, Brave Search shifted away from Bing Index to rely on its proprietary indexing solution. Following that, the company introduced its own search API, offering various pricing plans starting at $3 per 1,000 queries. The API also includes options for AI data model training, data with storage rights, spellcheck, and autosuggest. More recently, Brave expanded its Search API to encompass image, news, and video results.

Furthermore, Brave has been testing a native AI assistant named Leo for its browser. While there are plans to make Leo available to all users, a premium tier with additional features, such as higher rate limits and access to more conversation models, will be introduced. Brave intends to use this premium tier to cover the costs associated with API access and hosting.

Brave Software's recent staff reduction aligns with its efforts to adapt to the ever-evolving digital landscape and optimize its business operations in a challenging economic climate.