The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Google parent Alphabet is shutting down its artificial intelligence research office for DeepMind Technologies in Edmonton, as the tech giant chops 12,000 jobs worldwide in a cost-cutting measure during a sectorwide slowdown. The Globe's Temur Durrani writes that DeepMind is consolidating across Canada, the company said in a statement. It is based in Britain, where it is also laying off an unknown number of operational staff. Locations in Toronto and Montreal, which are within Google's offices there, will continue to operate as normal. Some researchers in Edmonton have been offered the option to relocate to another DeepMind office. The company, which was acquired by Google in 2014, has research centres in Canada, France and the United States. Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai said last week that 6 per cent of Alphabet's global work force will be laid off. The cuts are on top of massive layoffs at Amazon and Microsoft. At a companywide town hall held Monday, Mr. Pichai reiterated that Alphabet's wide-ranging cuts will affect all product areas, functions, levels and regions. Alphabet's Canadian-traded shares closed Tuesday at $16.91, down 38 cents.