Sam Altman Posts Tone-Deaf Tweet Thanking Coders For Making Themselves Obsolete

"I have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character. It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took. Thank you for getting us to this point."

"With greater frequency, we are going to be hearing about if not personally knowing coders and engineers getting laid off as companies move many activities into the hands of AI. And this 'thank you' from Altman feels pretty up there in the annals of tech CEOs speaking from inside their bubbles to the frightened masses."

Sam Altman posted a message thanking software developers for their complex character-by-character coding work, acknowledging the effort required to reach current technological capabilities. The timing of this gratitude sparked criticism as companies increasingly lay off coders and engineers while transitioning work to AI systems. Altman's statement exemplifies tech CEOs speaking from insulated positions without acknowledging the job displacement consequences their technologies create. The post drew comparisons to other tone-deaf remarks from tech leadership, such as Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's comments about deploying the National Guard to address San Francisco's social issues. Social media reactions highlighted the irony of thanking workers for contributions that are now being rendered obsolete by the very AI systems these executives promote.

Read at sfist.com