May 28, 2026
A year ago, Sam Altman scared a lot of people when he appeared on his brother Jack’s Uncapped podcast and proclaimed that “a lot of jobs will go away” because of AI. Now, he’s changing his tune.
In an interview with Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Matt Comyn earlier this week, Altman confessed he was “pretty wrong” about AI’s economic impact and that the technology would not result in a global “jobs apocalypse.” But he didn’t completely rule out his initial forecast either.
Advertisement
“I’m delighted to be wrong about this, I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened,” Altman said.
“I now think I understand more about why it hasn’t, and I’m obviously grateful but that is an area where my intuitions were just off. People are like ‘oh you could have saved the world a lot of fear mongering and a lot of doom and gloom’ but at the time I was like ‘I see this is a real risk [and] we should probably talk about it’ and it still may.”
Why the change?
Altman’s about-face came, he said, as he realized that despite AI’s spread in many parts of the workforce, there was still a “human part” of working that the technology couldn’t replace. For example, Altman had an AI chatbot handling replies to emails and Slack messages for a while, but has since begun answering more of those himself, as he found it mattered to him and others that correspondence in certain settings was authentic.
“We really do care about our interactions with people and this thing, which is a huge amount of my time, is not something that I can imagine myself outsourcing to an AI anytime soon,” he said.
It’s also worth noting that OpenAI is expected to confidentially file for an IPO in the coming weeks, with plans to raise $60 billion or more. So painting the company’s product in a less intimidating light could assist with that.
Must Read
- You can now build wealth like a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to chase down rent or take 3 A.M tenant calls
- Goldman Sachs used to hoard prime real estate deals for the ultrarich. Two ex-analysts just opened the door for $250
- Robert Kiyosaki begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’ — says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
Some agree. Some don’t.
Altman isn’t the only AI CEO who’s backtracking on warnings about the technology’s impact on the job market. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who once claimed AI could eliminate 50% of white-collar jobs, now says automation may actually expand the work people do. (Anthropic, also, is preparing for an IPO.)
Despite the high-profile changes of opinion, AI is still being blamed regularly as companies cut big portions of their workforce. Meta, which laid off 8,000 employees last week, cited the technology as the reason. (Another 7,000 workers were reassigned to AI initiatives.) Pinterest, Dow and Amazon have also indicated AI was behind recent layoffs.
Meanwhile, a new study from consulting firm Mercer found virtually every employer is planning to cut jobs due to the technology. Some 99% of the 825 C-level executives surveyed said they expect AI to lead to at least some headcount reduction in the next two years. And just 32% of the CEOs surveyed said they believed the workforce can combine both human and machine-worker capabilities in an optimal manner.
You May Also Like
- Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here’s what it is and the simple steps to fix it ASAP
- Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how
- Millionaires under 43 are reshaping investing — just 25% of their portfolios are in stocks. Here’s where their money is going
- Robert Kiyosaki issues grim warning for baby boomers. Many could be ‘wiped out’ and homeless ‘all over’ the country. How to protect yourself now
Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
