Amazon Anticipates to Cut Jobs as Generative AI Reshapes Work

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees the company’s growing use of generative AI will cut its total corporate headcount over the next few years. He said efficiency gains from more than 1,000 AI agents mean “we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today.”

He did not specify how many jobs will disappear but said most reductions should happen through attrition rather than another round of mass layoffs like 2022–23. Amazon is also pouring more than $100 billion into AI-driven data centers and has invested billions in AI startup Anthropic to fuel the shift.

As the nation’s second-largest private employer, Amazon’s move sends a powerful signal that AI adoption is already reshaping staffing strategies. The article notes a World Economic Forum survey showing 41% of employers expect to downsize for the same reason, highlighting a rapid realignment of workforce planning around AI.

Google declared its Gemini 2.5 Pro and Gemini 2.5 Flash models generally available after months in preview. It also launched a new Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite version pitched as the cheapest, fastest option for high-volume enterprise tasks.

The models feature a “thinking budget” that lets developers trade speed for deeper step-by-step reasoning and can handle up to one million tokens of context. Google raised Flash input pricing, cut output costs, and set Flash-Lite at $0.10 per million input tokens to lure price-sensitive workloads.

By offering good-better-best tiers, Google positions itself as a stable, cost-flexible alternative to OpenAI’s single premium track. Early deployments at Snap, SmartBear, and Connective Health show the models already handling mission-critical tasks, reinforcing Google’s bid to become the enterprise AI standard.

Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI," told the Diary of a CEO podcast that AI is already triggering mass job displacement. He stated that routine intellectual roles, including paralegals and call-center staff, are first in line for replacement.

He said AI tools will let one worker do the tasks of ten, leading to sweeping firings across many sectors. Physical trades like plumbing remain comparatively safe because current AI is poor at complex manual manipulation.

Hinton called job loss the most immediate threat to human happiness and said it is unfolding now in roles traditionally filled by recent college graduates. He also warned that even a universal basic income would not offset the loss of purpose people derive from work.

Residents of a nonprofit senior living community in Riverdale, N.Y., piloted Meela, an AI phone companion designed to curb loneliness. The program connected participants with a virtual friend for conversational calls.

Participants reported improved mental health during the pilot, including reduced depression and feelings of isolation. Meela was reachable whenever residents wanted to talk and never tired of hearing their stories.

The decrease in loneliness and depression shows the emotional value of AI companionship for older adults. The senior living community’s experience highlights how readily available phone-based AI can fill social gaps.

The Costa Rican Social Security Fund and private providers are deploying artificial intelligence to relieve pressure on the nation’s stretched healthcare system. Tools now predict diseases, accelerate diagnoses, and automate routine tasks.

Projects include AI monitoring of diabetic patients at Clorito Picado Clinic and free pharmacy vision scans that detect diabetic retinopathy before serious damage occurs. Leaders from the Ministry of Health, the CCSS, tech firms, and academia convened at a Chamber of Health forum to coordinate safe, fair integration of these technologies.

Proponents report that the pilots already enable earlier interventions for diabetes and reorganize resources in overcrowded clinics. Nonetheless, academic leaders caution that widespread adoption still faces open ethical and legal questions around fairness and responsibility.