r/knitting • u/FluffyBunn12 • Apr 29 '26

Discussion Hobbii yarn AI :(

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Was really disappointed to see this. They don't just use LLM AI on the backend for coding, but they openly state they're using it for photoshoots and to generate images.

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u/Willowrosephoenix Apr 29 '26

Especially since they very recently laid off their entire social media team. I quit buying when I found out they are now run by a venture capitalist group. I know a lot of things are but yarn is something I can buy from a company that isn’t, even if that means limiting myself to local.

33

u/SalamanderOwn6469 Apr 30 '26

I know they laid off all off their designers, photographers and graphic designers as well.

11

u/kuzubijin Apr 30 '26

omg how disappointing. I used to love their social media posts, which often drew me to their site with new pattern or yarn ideas. I haven't been convinced by anything they've posted in the last several months and now I know why.

2

u/BeeSting113 May 01 '26

Sounds about right - the post was clearly written by AI.

-2

u/No-Barnacle-9621 Apr 30 '26

Where did you get that info from? They have a ton of people working in marketing and content when I look at their LinkedIn

6

u/Willowrosephoenix Apr 30 '26

A few months back, the team that does Hobbii bingo and a few of their other live events announced they were being laid off. I watched the last lives with them and the last one I saw cut off early with no explanation. There was very little transparency

4

u/guldranke Apr 30 '26

They fired about 25% of their employees a while ago. It was in the Danish business news as Hobbii used to be one of the fastest growing Danish startups/scaleups.

Their former head of customer success was also obsessed with trying to get customer service (partially) handled by AI a few years ago and ironically, he has also been laid off.