In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday night in San Francisco, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back against fears that AI might render half of the company’s 180,000-person workforce redundant. Instead, Pichai emphasized Alphabet’s focus on growth through at least the coming year.
“I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,” Pichai said. He explained that AI is enhancing engineers’ productivity by removing tedious tasks, letting them focus on more meaningful projects. Far from replacing workers, he described AI as “an accelerator” that drives new product development and creates demand for additional employees.
Recent Layoffs and Focus Areas
Alphabet has conducted several rounds of layoffs in recent years. However, 2025’s cuts appear more targeted and limited. Early this year, Google’s cloud division saw fewer than 100 job cuts, followed by a few hundred layoffs in its platforms and devices unit. These numbers pale compared to the 12,000 layoffs in 2023 and over 1,000 in 2024.
Looking ahead, Pichai pointed to expanding ventures such as Waymo autonomous vehicles, quantum computing, and the rapid growth of YouTube as ongoing innovation drivers. He highlighted YouTube’s presence in India alone, with 100 million channels and 15,000 channels exceeding one million subscribers.
Pichai cautioned against trying to predict too far into the future but acknowledged concerns about job displacement. When asked about Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s warning that AI could displace half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, Pichai said, “I respect that … I think it’s important to voice those concerns and debate them.”
Regarding artificial general intelligence (AGI)—AI that matches human intelligence across all tasks—Pichai expressed optimism tempered with caution. “There’s a lot of forward progress ahead with the paths we are on,” he said, referencing current and experimental ideas. Still, he added, “Are we currently on an absolute path to AGI? I don’t think anyone can say for sure.”
Author’s Opinion
While AI will undoubtedly change the nature of many jobs, the narrative of mass layoffs oversimplifies the issue. Rather than wholesale replacement, AI is likely to transform roles, increase productivity, and create new kinds of work. Businesses and workers must adapt, but fearing AI as solely a job destroyer risks overlooking its potential as a powerful tool for innovation and growth.
Featured image credit: Maurizio Pesce via Flickr
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