US companies accused of ‘AI washing’ in citing artificial intelligence for job losses | US news
US companies accused of ‘AI washing’ in citing artificial intelligence for job losses | US news
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/08/ai-washing-job-losses-artificial-intelligence
Publish Date: 2026-02-08 11:03:00
Source Domain: www.theguardian.com
Over the last year, US corporate leaders have often explained layoffs by saying the positions were no longer needed because artificial intelligence had made their companies more efficient, replacing humans with computers.
But some economists and technology analysts have expressed skepticism about such justifications and instead think that such workforce cuts are driven by factors like the impact of tariffs, overhiring during the Covid-19 pandemic and perhaps simple maximising of profits.
In short, the CEOs are allegedly engaged in “AI-washing”.
“You can say, ‘We are integrating the newest technology into our business processes, so we are very much a technological frontrunner, and we have to let go of these people,’” said Fabian Stephany, a departmental research lecturer at the Oxford Internet Institute.
In 2025, AI was cited as a reason for more than 54,000 layoffs, according to a December report from the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In January, Amazon alone laid off 16,000 workers after making 14,000 reductions in October.
Beth Galetti, senior vice-president of people experience and technology at Amazon, explained in an October memo that they were trimming staff because “AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.
“We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly,” Galetti added.
The Hewlett-Packard CEO, Enrique Lores, also said in a November earnings call that the company would use AI to “improve customer satisfaction and boost productivity”, which means the company could cut 6,000 people in the “next years”.
In April, Luis von Ahn, CEO of the language-learning app company Duolingo, announced that the venture would “gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle”.
But the reason for such layoffs is often actually financial, according to a January report from the market research firm Forrester. The…
