In the news
I wrote recently about how the narrative around AI and its inevitability is of course all about money. Artificial Intelligence is not our destiny, it’s a destination selected by the few who see an enormous opportunity to gain more control and more wealth. It is an opportunity to squeeze the last ounce of blood out of society. And we recently got a glimpse into that reality.
My buddy shared Jack Dorsey’s post with me announcing the firing of 4,000 of Block’s 10,000 employees. In his post Jack Dorsey wrote:
“we're not making this decision because we're in trouble. our business is strong. gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. but something has changed. we're already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. and that's accelerating rapidly.”
To understand how strong, Block’s market cap (the total dollar market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock) is nearly $40 billion.
Last week Morgan Stanley announced that it was laying off 2,500 employees. That announcement comes on the heels of posting record annual revenue one year ago, and after a successful quarter that saw the company blow past profit estimates. Since October 2025 Amazon has cut 30,000 jobs. Amazons market cap is over $2.2 trillion.
AI taking jobs is only inevitable in a society that values profits over people. But while it’s easy to be pessimistic about the future of AI and it’s impact on society, especially with news of mass layoffs constantly making the rounds, I think there is a silver lining.
Because the more and more I hear and learn about AI, its capabilities, and its ability to scale, the more I think that these companies are making a grave mistake. It’s become apparent to me that AI has the ability to be the great equalizer. That it has the ability to put knowledge and power into the hands of everyday people like never before. And the more people that are forced out of their jobs, the more they are going to have to find a way to survive.
Humans are a resilient and adaptive species, especially when forced into a corner. New companies to compete with the monopolies are going to be stood up at record pace. New industries that we never thought of before are going to be created. New ways of solving old problems is going to become the norm. I think we’re staring down the pike of the last great revolution in our society. When technology finally puts the power back in the hands of the people. And I don’t know if any of these companies see it coming.
These companies and CEOs are only worth what their worth because society supports them through the everyday purchase of their products, and the everyday use of their services, but with the power of AI available to everyone, I predict the reliance on these companies is going to slowly diminish. As a society there is already a growing appetite for an alternative to the mainstays of the industries. But technological barriers to entry have made standing up competitors close to impossible. AI changes that.