OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said he is “relieved” that the feared “job apocalypse” caused by artificial intelligence has not arrived as quickly as many experts had predicted.
Altman’s statement comes even as over 100,000 tech employees have been laid off globally in Q1 of 2026, with Oracle, Meta, Block, Amazon, Cloudflare firing staff en masse, and attributing it directly to rising costs of AI infrastructure.
Speaking virtually at Commonwealth Bank’s Accelerate AI event in Sydney alongside Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn, Altman said he had misjudged the short-term impact of AI on entry-level white-collar jobs.
“I’m delighted to be wrong about that,” he said, claiming that the damage to employment had not been as severe as he once expected.
However, Altman’s comments come at a time when the global technology sector continues to witness major layoffs linked to AI-driven restructuring.
Companies such as Meta, Oracle and Amazon have announced large-scale workforce reductions while simultaneously investing billions into AI infrastructure, chips and data centers.
Industry experts estimate that leading technology firms could collectively spend over $700 billion on AI-related infrastructure in 2026 as competition intensifies to develop advanced AI systems. Despite this aggressive investment cycle, Altman stressed that AI adoption across the wider economy is still in its early stages. He said businesses and institutions are only beginning to understand how to use increasingly powerful AI models effectively.
Altman also highlighted the importance of transparency in discussing AI’s risks and societal impact. He said OpenAI has tried to openly share its views about the technology, even if some predictions later prove inaccurate.
On the future of AI, Altman suggested that upcoming systems may act as continuous digital assistants that understand users’ goals and proactively help them. At the same time, he acknowledged that certain human interactions, such as personal communication, should remain beyond automation, saying he could not imagine outsourcing meaningful conversations to AI anytime soon.
Also Read: Thank You For Your Service, Now Please Leave: Sam Altman’s Gratitude As Erasure
