The layoffs aren't about AI.
The layoffs aren't about AI. They're about who gets to keep the profits.
Tech companies are firing tens of thousands and pointing at AI for this. Nearly 150,000 jobs cut this year, running 44% faster than last year — while these same companies post record profits, not losses. Even the people selling AI admit it's a lie. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said it himself — there's "AI washing" happening, companies blaming AI for layoffs they'd have made anyway. Cognizant's own Chief AI Officer said the same — AI becomes the scapegoat when a company simply overhired and wants fatter margins. Follow the money instead: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta are spending a combined $700 billion this year on AI infrastructure, and payroll is the easiest place to cut quietly. Meta's own CFO admitted layoffs help "offset" their AI spending. And every time a company says "AI" while announcing cuts, the stock jumps within hours — Block, Atlassian, Cloudflare all proved it. That's not coincidence. That's the strategy.
So no, I don't buy that a machine got smart enough to replace 150,000 people in a year. What got smart is the messaging. "AI did this" sounds like progress. "We overhired and want fatter margins" sounds like what it is — greed wearing a lab coat. One class gets richer off the excuse used to make the other class lose everything, while health premiums and home prices climb out of reach. If AI were really doing the replacing, the savings would show up as lower prices or shorter work weeks — not bigger buybacks and richer executives. Until that happens, every layoff blamed on "AI efficiency" is a press release written for Wall Street, not the truth.