May 28, 2026
From pink slips to plot twist
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei are both walking back AI jobs apocalypse predictions
AI doom bosses hit reverse as commenters call them hype merchants and snake oil salesmen
TLDR: Sam Altman and Dario Amodei are backing away from their old warnings that artificial intelligence would quickly wipe out office jobs. Commenters aren’t buying the sudden change of tone, mocking them as fear sellers who went from threatening workers to flattering them when the backlash got loud.
The biggest plot twist in tech right now? The same chief executives who spent months warning that artificial intelligence could wipe out office jobs are suddenly saying, well, maybe not so fast. OpenAI’s Sam Altman now says he was “pretty wrong” about how quickly entry-level jobs would disappear, while Anthropic’s Dario Amodei has shifted from mass job-loss alarms to a much sunnier idea: machines may just help people do more. Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon, meanwhile, is enjoying a full “told you so” moment, arguing that history shows new technology usually creates fresh work instead of ending it. You can read the full backdrop here.
But the real fireworks are in the comments, where people are not exactly handing out forgiveness. One furious poster called the reversals proof these leaders are “snakes,” accusing them of talking big and then backpedaling when the public got spooked. Another summed up the vibe with brutal sarcasm: first it was “we are going to replace devs” and now it’s basically “we love devs, please keep using our products.” Ouch.
The dark humor is everywhere. One commenter joked they could have kept promising “AI will replace all the jobs by the end of the year” for the next 20 years and still found believers. Still, not everyone is fully anti-AI: one calmer voice said these tools are genuinely useful, just more like a supercharged autocomplete than a human replacement. So the mood is a messy cocktail of distrust, memes, and reluctant practicality: people may use the tools, but they’re absolutely roasting the sales pitch.
Key Points
- •Sam Altman said he was "pretty wrong" about the expected pace of AI-driven elimination of entry-level white-collar jobs.
- •Dario Amodei has shifted from warning that AI could eliminate 50% of white-collar jobs to arguing automation may expand output and redefine work.
- •David Solomon has consistently argued that AI job-loss fears are overstated, citing U.S. economic history, employment growth, and Goldman Sachs research on data center jobs.
- •The article says OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly preparing IPOs this year and that each is estimated to be worth $1 trillion.
- •Current evidence is mixed: the article notes more than 115,000 tech layoffs through May 2026, with some companies citing AI, while also citing research that productivity gains can offset displacement.