November 1, 2025
Pink slips for GPUs
Tech companies are firing everyone to "fund AI", spending money on each other
Big Tech fires staff, then pays each other for AI — commenters cry “bubble”
TLDR: Big Tech cut tens of thousands of jobs while pouring hundreds of billions into AI gear they largely buy from each other, fueling a stock surge. Commenters are split between “it’s a bubble and self-cannibalization” and “it’s post-pandemic overhiring cleanup,” warning your retirement account rides this drama too.
The internet is in full meltdown over Big Tech’s latest plot twist: mass layoffs for humans, monster shopping sprees for machines. Amazon axes 30,000, Microsoft 15,000, Meta 3,600, Google hundreds — over 180,000 tech jobs gone in 2025 — while the same giants splurge $300B+ on AI. Commenters call it corporate cannibalism. One user sneered at the “current trend of capitalist self-cannibalization,” while another said even OpenAI’s boss has hinted this looks like a bubble. A third went darker: we’re in a “general economic decline masked… by the AI bubble.”
Cue the memes. Folks say it’s “musical chairs with billions,” a “group project where everyone invoices each other,” and the “hot potato of GPUs” — Nvidia gets paid, then TSMC, then ASML, while the “Magnificent Seven” (those seven mega-stocks) pump the market. The spiciest take: these companies can’t stop spending or their stocks crash, so the AI arms race keeps burning cash and jobs.
Not everyone buys the doom. Pushback says layoffs are also a reality check after pandemic overhiring, not just an “AI tax,” and that tech still has a big future. But the comment section’s vibe is clear: Big Tech is firing people, then paying each other — and calling it progress. Your 401(k)? Along for the ride.
Key Points
- •The article alleges over 180,000 tech workers were laid off in 2025, including Amazon (30,000), Microsoft (15,000), Meta (3,600), and Google (hundreds).
- •It claims big tech is spending over $300 billion on AI in 2025, exceeding savings from layoffs, with extensive cross-purchasing of chips, cloud, and software.
- •Examples of purported circular spending include Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple buying Nvidia chips or renting cloud from AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
- •The “Magnificent 7” are cited as having a combined $17T market cap, ~$2.2T in 2024 revenue, and ~$550B net profit, trading at an average P/E of 35 versus 15.5 for the rest of the S&P 500.
- •The article states Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta raised capex 42% in 2024 and plan another 17% in 2025 (totaling $244B), with spending flowing to Nvidia, TSMC, and ASML.