Internal Transfer in YouTube (1)
YouTube has always been a small cash cow for Google. When Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, it was undoubtedly a steal. In just the first quarter of 2024, YouTube generated $8 billion in revenue. Not only does YouTube make money, but its income continues to grow. As a result, during Google's massive layoffs in 2023, YouTube remained almost unscathed. While other departments were experiencing significant turmoil, YouTube remained relatively harmonious, almost like an outsider watching the show.
At the same time, AI underwent explosive development, and Google suddenly realized it was lagging behind in AI research. Feeling a sense of crisis, Google merged Deepmind and Google Brain, and Google Search became increasingly anxious. On the one hand, they worried that AI would generate a flood of low-quality content, polluting search results. On the other hand, they feared that search would decline as people turned to AI chatbots for information. As for YouTube? It seemed to be sitting on the sidelines again. The external turmoil was like a gentle breeze to YouTube, and it actually benefited from the situation. AI is a powerful tool for video creators and excelled at summarizing and categorizing video content. The emergence of AI was like adding wings to YouTube. As a result, YouTube became a hotbed of activity, with various projects springing up, such as AI-generated video backgrounds and AI-automated video segmentation. There was even an internal AI competition to gather ideas for potential products.
Therefore, in the years following the layoffs, YouTube became known within Google as a relatively safe place to work at. My team was no exception. There wasn't too much pressure at work, and there wasn't too much pressure from management. Our OKRs (objectives and key results that determin the performance review) were set for the entire year, and we could gradually progress towards them each quarter. Although there was nothing to complain about with a 9-to-5 job, I started to feel restless after half a year as it felt like I wasn't learning much. In mid-2024, after I moved to San Quentin, the driving to the office became too long. So, I decided to start looking for a new position, aiming to transfer from Mountain View to YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno.