Sam Altman says the quiet part out loud, confirming some companies are ‘AI washing’ by blaming unrelated layoffs on the technology

Sam Altman acknowledged that some companies are "AI washing"—falsely blaming AI for workforce reductions they would have made anyway. A February NBER study found 90% of surveyed C-suite executives reported no AI impact on employment since ChatGPT, yet contrasting views persist: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned of potential 50% entry-level job losses, and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel cited AI when announcing 1,000 layoffs. Recent analyses suggest AI's claimed productivity gains and labor displacement are not yet evident in macroeconomic data.