China is Banning Layoff’s Attributed to AI

A Chinese court ruled that companies cannot lay off workers on AI grounds. Meanwhile, in the last ten minutes, I received a notification that Coinbase is laying off 14% of its workforce, citing AI-driven changes to work. Most analysis suggests that large U.S. tech firms reducing headcount due to AI are largely returning to pre-COVID staffing levels — they may have simply overhired. Wall Street continues to reward these moves.

At an Anthropic event today with senior financial services leaders and CEO Dario Amodei, the tone was notably different. None of them leaned into mass layoffs. There was broad agreement on two points: this technology is evolving faster than any in history, and there is too much uncertainty to predict what comes next. The conversation tilted toward getting ahead of the change — through economic policy that supports displaced workers and active redeployment of employees rather than elimination of roles.

One data point from Anthropic's economic index stood out: employees report using AI to do more work (48%) more often than simply working faster (40%). The distinction matters.