The AI tech job slaughter gets real

Tech companies have announced frequent layoffs tied to generative AI, either to replace roles with AI or to fund AI infrastructure. Major firms including Amazon, Block, Cisco, Cloudflare, and Meta have reduced payrolls, and nearly half of reported tech job cuts are linked to AI. Despite widespread hype, broad business value from AI has not been proven. Claims that AI improves coding and revenue are questioned because incentives favor positive reporting. An IDC study reports that 88% of proof-of-concept AI projects never reach production. MIT research finds 95% of AI projects fail to deliver measurable profit-and-loss impact. Programming productivity may improve as AI becomes more capable.

"Tech companies seem to be falling over each other these days in firing people to either replace them with AI or to pay to build AI infrastructure. Wouldn't it be nice if they at least waited until AI actually worked for business? On the one hand, top tech businesses such as Amazon, Block, Cisco, Cloudflare, and Meta have all announced that they're slashing payrolls - either because AI can do the same work as people or they need the cash to build out their AI infrastructure."

"All together, of the 37,638 tech job cuts so far this year, 47.9% - almost half - can be tracked back to AI. On the other hand, despite all the AI hype and hysteria, no one has yet proven that AI is, generally speaking, really all that helpful for businesses. Oh, I know, I know. You did great things with OpenClaw vibe programming."

"But really, what else would they say? "Dear Board, we just blew half a billion bucks on Nvidia GPUs, and we're losing money hand over fist?" I don't think so. The truth is, as an IDC study reports, a mind-boggling 88% of proof-of-concept AI projects never reach production. Lest we forget, MIT's The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025 study found that 95% of AI projects fail to deliver measurable P&L impact."

"Now, I have to acknowledge that AI is finally becoming truly helpful in business. As a guy who knows a thing or two about programming, Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux and Git, said at Open Source Summit North America, "I'm personally 100% convinced that AI is changing programming." He estimates that " AI will increase your productivity by a factor of 10. ""

Read at Computerworld