Is AI Replacing All Jobs? No, Sam Altman Doesn't Think So

Last Updated:February 22, 2026, 13:20 IST

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Sam Altman said firms blame AI for layoffs, but it may create new opportunities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take away our jobs — a statement that’s been ringing in our ears for the past few months. Tech giants, including Google, Amazon, and TCS, have already laid off thousands of employees, citing a shift towards an AI-driven era.

However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is at loggerheads with the statement. According to him, AI is likely not the reason for all the job losses.

During the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the OpenAI chief remarked that firms may be using AI as an excuse for laying off employees, something which he described as “AI washing".

Speaking to CNBC TV18, “I don’t know what the exact percentage is, but there’s some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do."

AI BEHIND JOB LOSSES?

Altman signalled that many companies may be using AI as a reason for laying off workers. Sam acknowledged many jobs were in fact being impacted directly by AI. However, he didn’t specify the roles.

The OpenAI Boss reckoned that while AI may impact jobs, there is a possibility of new opportunities.

“We’ll find new kinds of jobs, as we do with every tech revolution," he said. “But I would expect that the real impact of AI doing jobs in the next few years will begin to be palpable."

Earlier, a report from consulting firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, showed that approximately 55,000 layoffs were because of AI in 2025. Although the number sounds humungous, it actually represents less than 1 per cent of job losses that year.

Other leaders in the AI space have also been vocal about their views on the matter. According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, this cannot be guaranteed if AI will create as many jobs as it displaces.

Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman hints that all white collar jobs may be replaced by Artificial Intelligence within the next eighteen months.

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