The fear is real. In meetings, Slack chats, and after-work drinks, one question is quietly eating away at millions of employees: Will AI take my job?
In public, CEOs like to sound reassuring. They say generative AI will “enhance productivity” or “streamline operations.” But when you actually read what they’re telling their own employees, or what slips out in investor memos, the message is chilling: virtual workers are here, and they’re not just assistants. They’re replacements.
Let’s take a closer look at what some of the world’s most powerful tech CEOs are saying. Not in hype videos, but in official internal messages, blog posts, and investor updates.
1. Amazon’s Andy Jassy: “We will need fewer people”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently published a company-wide message that sounds reasonable, until you actually read it.
“As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today… We expect this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
The key phrase? “Next few years.” That’s corporate speak for 2026 to 2028. Not ten years away. This is soon.
Jassy is not talking about automating only simple or repetitive tasks. He’s preparing employees for a reality where AI replaces entire job categories across the board, and where hiring slows or stops altogether for roles that machines can now do.
2. Duolingo’s Luis von Ahn: “Headcount will only be given if” AI can’t do the job
In a memo posted to LinkedIn, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn was even more blunt. “Most functions will have specific initiatives to fundamentally change how they work… Headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work.”
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