Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang calls AI a “lazy” excuse for layoffs

Jensen Huang has some pointed words for leaders who blame company layoffs on AI. “I think the narrative that connects AI to job loss, for many of the CEOs that are doing it, is just too lazy,” the Nvidia cofounder and CEO said in an interview with Channel News Asia. “AI has just arrived. How is it possible they’re already losing jobs? How is it possible that AI became productive and useful only six months ago, and they were somehow laying people off two years ago because of AI?” “It doesn’t make any sense,” Huang added. “It was just a way for them to sound smart and I really hate that.” While Huang didn’t name-drop any specific CEOs or companies, AI-linked layoffs have permeated several industries in recent weeks and months. Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters received backlash when he announced the company would cut 7,000 jobs over the next four years to replace “lower-value human capital” with tech. Just last week, Meta laid off 10% of its workforce to offset heavy spend on AI initiatives. One report from outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that AI drove 25% of job cuts in March. Still, Huang is not convinced by leaders who blame layoffs entirely on the advent of AI. “I think we’re scaring people and that’s irresponsible,” Huang said. “I think we should tell a balanced story, a balanced narrative about the potential of this technology.” Huang isn’t the only one pushing back on the existing narrative—labor experts have said for months that AI has been being used as a scapegoat to justify layoffs that may really be happening for more pedestrian reasons, like being unprofitable. An in-depth analysis published last October by the Brookings Institution and Yale University’s Budget Lab found that the proportion of jobs in the workforce that are at high risk of being replaced by AI had remained fairly steady since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022. Either way, corporations are excitedly adopting AI tools to automate t