Tech CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath, says AI could wipe out half of all entry-level jobs

The head of one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies is warning that rapid advances in AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years.

“Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen,” Amodei said. “It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it.”

Amodei, 42, said jobs in sectors such as technology, finance, law, consulting and other professional fields are particularly vulnerable, especially those that are entry-level. He said the bloodbath in white-collar jobs could spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years.

The executive stressed that he and other AI leaders have a responsibility to be transparent about the potential disruptions caused by their technologies.

“We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming,” he said.

The CEO’s stark projections come amid a debate over the economic and social impact of generative AI tools, which are advancing rapidly in capabilities such as coding, writing, and customer service.

Amodei said it is possible that AI could deliver immense societal benefits, from curing cancer to boosting economic growth, while simultaneously rendering a significant portion of the workforce unemployed.

“Cancer is cured, the economy grows at 10% a year, the budget is balanced — and 20% of people don’t have jobs,” he said.

Anthropic, along with companies like OpenAI and Google, is among those leading the development of large language models (LLMs), which are trained to perform tasks at or beyond human levels. As these systems improve, Amodei warned, businesses may opt to replace humans en masse to cut costs.

Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon predicted that AI-related job losses would become a central issue in the 2028 presidential election.

“I don’t think anyone is taking into consideration how administrative, managerial and tech jobs for people under 30 — entry-level jobs that are so important in your 20s — are going to be eviscerated,” Bannon said.

According to the Axios report, CEOs are afraid to talk about the possible mass elimination of jobs.

“Some jobs get disrupted, but then new, more valuable, and usually more interesting jobs get created,” Hassabis said. “That’s what’s going to happen in the nearer term — the next five years.”