The AI layoff wave is becoming a powder keg

Tech companies are laying off tens of thousands of workers at a record pace — nearly 150,000 so far this year — while citing AI as the primary reason. Critics, including Marc Andreessen, argue AI is a convenient cover story for pandemic-era overhiring. The situation is made more volatile by the simultaneous minting of enormous AI-driven wealth: Cerebras's IPO created billionaires, SpaceX's public debut may create thousands of millionaires, and Anthropic and OpenAI approach trillion-dollar valuations. Meanwhile, laid-off workers face rising healthcare costs, soaring home prices, and a cost-of-living crisis. The piece draws parallels to the post-2008 Occupy Wall Street backlash, warning that the optics of companies growing richer via AI while using it to justify mass layoffs could ignite significant social and political backlash.