""I don't know what the exact percentage is, but there's some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do, and then there's some real displacement by AI of different kinds of jobs," Altman said in an interview during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week. "I expect we'll see more of the latter over time.""
"There are plenty of potential explanations for ongoing layoffs, from immigration policy to broader economic uncertainty, but business leaders have been quick to cite AI. Companies like Citigroup have claimed AI will "reshape how work gets done" and have alerted employees to additional layoffs in the coming months. UPS has cut tens of thousands of jobs over the last year, and CEO Carol Tomé claimed automation is a core part of the business becoming more efficient."
Major employers have cited artificial intelligence and automation as reasons for widespread job cuts, with AI referenced in nearly 55,000 layoffs in 2025 and overall job cuts exceeding 108,000 in January. Economists find that employment data do not indicate AI is replacing jobs en masse at present. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted both AI washing and genuine displacement, and he expects more displacement over time. Companies such as Citigroup, UPS, Amazon and Microsoft have invoked AI or automation while trimming headcount. Research and unemployment figures do not yet show significant AI-driven declines in employment among highly susceptible occupations.
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