Alphabet’s Verily Shuts Devices Unit, Adding to Biotech Layoff Wave

Alphabet’s life-sciences subsidiary Verily has eliminated an undisclosed number of positions and shut its entire medical-devices division, according to an internal memo from Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gillett. The company said it will concentrate resources on precision health, data and artificial-intelligence platforms after concluding the hardware business would require capital it no longer wants to deploy. Verily’s retrenchment deepens a wave of cutbacks across the sector. Medical-robotics maker Intuitive Surgical has notified California regulators it will dismiss more than 300 employees at its Sunnyvale headquarters, while other life-science firms have pared staff, manufacturing and research spending amid tighter funding conditions. The contraction is reflected in MassBio’s newly released 2025 Industry Snapshot, which shows venture capital investment in Massachusetts biotech companies fell 17% in the first half of the year to levels last seen in 2017 and that the state recorded its first drop in R&D jobs. The trade group warned that continued pressure on financing and federal research support could erode the United States’ long-held dominance, allowing China to gain ground in the field.