Following a layoff of 15% of their workforce and shutting down BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed will now be relying on their own creators as well as AI technology to propel their popular website forward into the future.
During the company’s first earnings report since the layoffs were initially announced, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said the layoffs and changes made to the company, has helped put the company on the right path.
“We have reached an inflection point in digital media. Over the last few months, we have made significant strategic and organizational changes to position the business for long-term growth. Adaptation is in our DNA. By leaning into Creators and AI, I believe we can unlock new opportunities across our portfolio of trusted brands — including Tasty, First we Feast, Complex, HuffPost, and BuzzFeed,” Peretti said in the official earnings release.
“Broadly speaking, I believe that generative AI will begin to replace the majority of static content. Audiences will begin to expect all content to be personalized, interactive and dynamic with embedded intelligence formats that were developed before the AI revolution. And many other formats and conventions of the media industry will need to be updated and adapted or begin to feel stale and outdated,” Peretti said during the call, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
BuzzFeed says that they are “rapidly prototyping” new generative AI quizzes and chatbots that “will scale in the coming months.”
“The next few years will be defined by creators partnering with the best media brands for credibility and community,” Peretti added.
As far as the financials for the three month period that ended on March 31st, BuzzFeed reported first-quarter revenues of $67.2 million, down 27 percent year-over-year, with advertising revenue down 30 percent and content revenue down 33 percent, while commerce along with other revenues saw a boost of six percent to $11.3 million. Additionally, BuzzFeed reported a net loss of $36.3 million, less than its net loss of $44.6 million in the first quarter of 2022.
BuzzFeed adjusted EBITDA loss was $20.2 million, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $16.8 million a year ago.
BuzzFeed said it expects revenues in the range of $76 million to $81 million and adjusted EBITDA from $0 to $4 million for the second quarter.
