Trump's tech advisor says companies blame AI for layoffs 'because it plays better in the press'

Michael Kratsios, Trump's science and technology advisor, said companies are attributing layoffs they would have made anyway to AI. "I think a lot of folks these days, when they're doing a layoff that they would have done anyway, just like to assign it or blame it to AI because it plays better in the press," he said on a podcast, agreeing that it also lifts the stock price. The AI-washing claim has currency inside the industry too. Sam Altman said in February there is "some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do," alongside real displacement. Business Insider has tracked 17 companies, including Uber, Snap, and Block, that cited AI in layoffs.

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