Despite promises that AI will create more jobs, 1.2 million jobs were actually slashed last year—a grim throwback to losses from the 2008 financial crisis

Tech leaders like Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have described AI as a win-win for society; they make ambitious promises that the advanced tech will allow us to turbocharge the labor force, cure cancers, and create new “super well-paid, super interesting jobs” that didn’t exist before. 

But instead of feeling empowered, many workers fear their jobs are at risk of being automated—and the flood of layoffs in 2025 confirmed their suspicions. 

A staggering...