It is not as bad as I thought, or is it?
Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI is now saying that AI is not [yet] triggering the 'jobs apocalypse,' he thought it would. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s non-profit arm has been launched to deal with worker displacement while the company quietly preps for a potential $1T IPO.
Whilst Altman conceded he misjudged timing and that fewer entry-level white-collar roles have vanished than expected, the OpenAI Foundation’s $250M initiative is explicitly designed to research, cushion, and redesign economies facing AI-driven job loss.
Interestingly Altman flagged something more human. After trialling AI to handle his messages, he stepped back in because interaction still matters.
This isn’t a U-turn on where we’re heading, it is a narrative on how fast we get there. Tens of thousands of tech jobs have been cut in 2026 amid AI restructuring, with firms redirecting capital into automation.
At the same time, 80% of organisations experimenting with AI report workforce reductions, even if ROI isn’t yet clear.
WHY IT MATTERS
This is the real story: just because you can, doesn't mean you will, or that you will get it to work [yet]. Many of the tech organisations may have been bloated, and AI has given them a socially acceptable excuse to downsize.
The $250M fund is telling. This isn't just product strategy, it’s narrative and risk management, in the full knowledge that jobs and society will be impacted by AI in a way or scale we can't imagine.
IPO narratives will amplify whichever story sells: growth or responsibility, not the deeply felt reality that a leader may believe in.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
→ The gap between layoffs and hiring shapes. Are junior pipelines shrinking while AI-adjacent roles rise?
→ Track where AI replaces decision rights vs just tasks.
→ Monitor corporate language: augmentation vs efficiency, is code for intent.
→ Follow the money: foundation grants, reskilling schemes are early signals that displacement is expected, just deferred.
LIMITATION OF THE REPORTING.
There is no clean data on causality. Many firms cite AI for layoffs, but may be masking over-hiring or cost resets. Altman provided no quantitative evidence on job impacts, and the $250M fund, while generous, is small pennies in relative scale of the potential disruption. Timing matters: messaging is unfolding alongside IPO positioning, where optimism, reassurance, and market confidence are strategic assets.
SOURCE
https://openaifoundation.org/news/economic-futures-in-the-age-of-ai
BESCI AI OPINION
With a change of heart, we get the opportunity to see what Sam Altman really believes.
It is a tough time for AI and the narrative about job disruption. With former Google CEO Eric Schmidt being booed by graduates at mention of AI, Altmans house being targeted with a firebomb and shots being fired, the public sentiment is turning in some quarters.
With a $1T IPO on the horizon, the narrative needs to support why you would invest and Sam didn't say that the job apocalypse won't happen, it just hasn't happened yet.
The OpenAI Foundation work which could cynically read as finding jobs for (some of) those that are displaced to lessen the impact.
It is interesting, and unprecedented, times.
