The AI layoff wave is becoming a powder keg

AI裁员浪潮成为火药桶

Tech companies have laid off about 150,000 people this year, averaging 974 per day—44% faster than last year. AI has been the top cited reason for three straight months. Block cut nearly half its staff; CEO Jack Dorsey denied AI was the root cause, while Marc Andreessen called AI a 'silver bullet excuse.' Uber slashed 23% of its HR department, though its CTO had earlier said the AI coding budget ran out in four months. Meanwhile, AI chip maker Cerebras hit a $67 billion market cap on its IPO day, and Anthropic and OpenAI are each valued around $1 trillion. Meta announced 8,000 layoffs after Mark Zuckerberg bought a $170 million mansion. Polls show 65% of voters think a middle-class life is out of reach, and 76% of Americans rank cost of living as their top economic concern.

Why it matters: Solid data, escalating conflict, Andreessen's quote turns this from routine layoff coverage into an industry narrative dispute. Not p1 because it's TechCrunch reporting rather than a primary source or exclusive, but HKR all hit, featured is right.