BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s Baidu started layoffs this week that will hit multiple business units, six sources briefed on the matter said, as the company struggles with intensifying competition in artificial intelligence and declining advertising revenue.

The move by the company, which runs China’s largest search engine, comes shortly after it reported a third-quarter loss on November 18. The sources added that the layoffs were expected to run until the end of this year. Reuters was not able to establish the companywide number of jobs being cut but the sources said it was internally perceived to be large-scale. The layoff numbers varied by business unit and performance ratings and could reach as high as 40% for some teams, two of the people said.

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