Bezos: AI will lead to labor shortages and will not replace humans Amazon founder Jeff Bezos predicts that artificial intelligence will lead to labor shortages, not the replacement of human jobs. GOP strategist Chris Johnson adds that AI is boosting energy production and advanced manufacturing, reindustrializing the United States.
Founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos said the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) would not lead to the replacement of humans in the workforce but would instead create labor shortages.
Bezos spoke at the VivaTech tech conference in Paris on Wednesday and offered an optimistic view of the future. impact of AI on labor, amid concerns about its impact on the role of human workers in the economy as a whole.
“I know a lot of people, including a lot of smart people, are worried that AI is going to make humans redundant and so on,” Bezos said.
“I absolutely disagree with this point of view. And I think that in fact, AI will create a labor shortage,” added the Amazon founder. “We have an infinite number of things to invent… We are not limited by our imagination but by what we can actually do.”
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said AI would lead to labor shortages, rather than excluding humans from the job market. (Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images)
“I promise you, every single person in this audience had an idea for a new business or new product or device “They wish they could manufacture, and that idea just sat in your head and didn’t go anywhere,” Bezos explained. “And the reason it stayed in your head and didn’t go anywhere is because it’s too hard to do and it wasn’t worth it.”
“If we can accelerate the dream-building loop, then all ideas will become possible. And then we will end up being limited not by our abilities, but by our imagination,” he added.
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Teleprinter Security Last Change Change % AMZN AMAZON.COM INC. 243.24 +5.74 +2.42% Bezos’ comments come as companies re-evaluate their workforces in light of advances in AI, with employees numbering thousands. job cuts following corporate investments in emerging technologies.
A report from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reveals that around 40% of the 97,006 job cuts announced by companies in May were attributed to AI.
The 38,579 reductions attributed to AI in May are the highest monthly total linked to it since Challenger began tracking it in 2023.
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“The job market is being reshaped in real time by technology. AI is now the top reason companies cite for cutting jobs and the top industry citing that reason is technology,” said Andy Challenger, the company’s chief revenue officer and labor and workplace expert.
Amazon announced layoffs in January as it accelerates its investments in AI. (Matthias Balk/photo alliance via Getty Images)
THE technology sector announced 38,242 job cuts in May – the highest for the sector since August 2024. Companies in the sector have announced 123,653 job cuts in 2026 so far, representing an increase of 66% compared to the same period in 2025 and well ahead of other sectors in job cuts this year.
“AI is not yet the workplace apocalypse that some predicted. Like spreadsheets and email before it, the technology will eventually make workers more productive, but our data shows that companies are already acting accordingly, citing AI for more reductions than any other reason,” Challenger explained. “The open question is not whether AI is changing the workforce, but how quickly.”
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Amazon is one of the tech companies that has cut jobs as part of its AI investments, with the company announcing 16,000 job cuts in January.
Reuters contributed to this report.
