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I mean Dorsey literally just said publicly that he’s laying off people in order to utilize AI like what more clear point do you want? Whether or not you belie

I mean Dorsey literally just said publicly that he’s laying off people in order to utilize AI like what more clear point do you want? Whether or not you believe that this is a good or bad move, correct or lying move, whether AI is capable or not, “AI” is the reason that CEOs are utilizing to cut roles The timing of this is based on the fact that Capital is striking from deploying money to anything else outside of the largest deals that include AI as promise of higher profits But ultimately it comes down to the fact that the people in control with all the money believe that the future is gonna need less human workers and is prioritizing giving money to organisms that will shed their workforces in order to run an experiment in AI capturing value on behalf of investors without having the additional overhead of personnel

greedo 8mo ago
Sure, a CEO has never lied before about the reasons for layoffs.
- shimman 8mo ago
  I think COVID ruined people's ability to critically think. The amount of people in both journalism and across the economy, people are just taking the words of others (often those with malicious intents) with zero critical thought being applied. For Block's case they have had multiple layoffs over the last 5 years, hardly the sign of an AI apocalypse and more of a sign of a business leader that only survived because of free money.
  - greedo 8mo ago
    I agree 100%. I think that many business "leaders" will use AI as a cudgel to control their budgets.
epistasis 8mo ago
Dorsey is in a huge bind with runway and lack of revenue. Blaming AI for a massive cut needed just to get by lets investors trick themselves into believing that he has a plan that makes the company grow to reach the level of profitability that the stock prices suggests will happen. And perhaps Dorsey has a long enough of a runway for something to come along to save the company from eventual collapse. Maybe not, since firing 40% of a company tends to put a damper on innovative efforts that would massively grow revenues.
tyre 8mo ago
Or it’s possible he was lying! If Block is really so much more efficient, while doing well, they should invest that talent into expanded products and services. But that’s not what we’re seeing. Some things: - They acquired AfterPay for $29bn. Their market cap today, after the big AI bump, is $40bn. BNPL did not pay off the way payments companies thought it would. - They have a weird internal combination of Cash and Square and AfterPay internally. They’re not as unified as they ought to be. This feels more like Jack coming to terms with a company that’s hugely inefficient organizationally. It’s easier to clear out thousands of people and rebuild.
camdenreslink 8mo ago
I think the point is that these tech leaders can be saying "AI" to appeal to their board/shareholders, but the truth is more mundane typical reasons for layoffs (bad economy, overhiring, offshoring, bad debt, etc).

greedo 8mo ago

Sure, a CEO has never lied before about the reasons for layoffs.

shimman 8mo ago
I think COVID ruined people's ability to critically think. The amount of people in both journalism and across the economy, people are just taking the words of others (often those with malicious intents) with zero critical thought being applied. For Block's case they have had multiple layoffs over the last 5 years, hardly the sign of an AI apocalypse and more of a sign of a business leader that only survived because of free money.
- greedo 8mo ago
  I agree 100%. I think that many business "leaders" will use AI as a cudgel to control their budgets.

epistasis 8mo ago

Dorsey is in a huge bind with runway and lack of revenue. Blaming AI for a massive cut needed just to get by lets investors trick themselves into believing that he has a plan that makes the company grow to reach the level of profitability that the stock prices suggests will happen. And perhaps Dorsey has a long enough of a runway for something to come along to save the company from eventual collapse. Maybe not, since firing 40% of a company tends to put a damper on innovative efforts that would massively grow revenues.

tyre 8mo ago

Or it’s possible he was lying! If Block is really so much more efficient, while doing well, they should invest that talent into expanded products and services. But that’s not what we’re seeing. Some things: - They acquired AfterPay for $29bn. Their market cap today, after the big AI bump, is $40bn. BNPL did not pay off the way payments companies thought it would. - They have a weird internal combination of Cash and Square and AfterPay internally. They’re not as unified as they ought to be. This feels more like Jack coming to terms with a company that’s hugely inefficient organizationally. It’s easier to clear out thousands of people and rebuild.

camdenreslink 8mo ago

I think the point is that these tech leaders can be saying "AI" to appeal to their board/shareholders, but the truth is more mundane typical reasons for layoffs (bad economy, overhiring, offshoring, bad debt, etc).