'A good scapegoat': Wall Street assesses latest AI-linked job cuts
Key takeaways
- 'A good scapegoat': Wall Street assesses latest AI-linked job cuts Ines Ferré · Senior Business Reporter Sun, May 10, 2026 at 12:08 AM GMT+7 3 min read NET Executives are increasingly citing AI as a reason for layoffs.
- “I think there’s some real displacement.
- CEO Brian Armstrong cited “current market conditions” and a need to “optimize the Company’s operations for the AI era.” Coinbase also wanted to get rid of manager layers.
'A good scapegoat': Wall Street assesses latest AI-linked job cuts Ines Ferré · Senior Business Reporter Sun, May 10, 2026 at 12:08 AM GMT+7 3 min read NET Executives are increasingly citing AI as a reason for layoffs. Wall Street strategists say it may be too early to determine how much of it stems from genuine productivity gains versus the need to cut costs.
“I think there’s some real displacement. I think you’re also seeing executives use this as a good scapegoat for where they want to trim some of the fat,” Winthrop Capital chief investment officer Adam Coons told Yahoo Finance last week, after crypto trading platform Coinbase (COIN) announced plans to cut 14% of its workforce.
CEO Brian Armstrong cited “current market conditions” and a need to “optimize the Company’s operations for the AI era.” Coinbase also wanted to get rid of manager layers.