💔 Layoffs, China locks researchers in, and the foundation that promises to fix what AI breaks

Snap eliminated 1,000 employees and stated that AI generates 65% of its new code. The stock went up. The market rewards efficiency. People are the cost. Intuit cut 3,000 positions. The OpenAI foundation promised $250 million to repair the damage — less than 1% of what they spend per year on the AI causing the layoffs. And China has started preventing its best researchers from leaving the country. Three stories that paint the uncomfortable side of AI: the promise of progress collides with a more complex reality.

💔 Snap, Intuit, and the wave of layoffs AI is not stopping

Two companies announced massive, AI-linked workforce reductions last Thursday. And the pattern repeats: these aren't struggling companies — they're profitable companies replacing people with software.

Snap eliminated approximately 1,000 employees and closed 300 vacancies. The most painful stat: the company stated that AI generates more than 65% of its new code. Eight out of ten lines that a human used to write are now written by a model. Snap expects to save more than $500 million per year with this restructuring. The stock went up. The market rewards efficiency. People are the cost.

Intuit announced 3,000 cuts, roughly 8% of its global workforce. The messaging was more careful — "freeing up resources to invest in AI-powered products" — but the result is the same: people out, software in.

What makes 2026 different from previous layoff waves is that there's no economic crisis behind it. In 2022 and 2023, tech companies laid off because they had over-hired during COVID and interest rates rose. Now they lay off because AI is cheaper than humans, and it works. That's not going to stop. Quite the opposite: every company with engineering, customer service, or document processing is doing the same math.

From people losing their jobs to those trying to repair the damage — even if with patches.

💰 The OpenAI foundation promises $250M to repair the damage

On Friday the 27th, the OpenAI Foundation announced it would commit $250 million in grants, research partnerships, and direct programs to help workers and communities affected by automation. The foundation, which received 26% of OpenAI's for-profit entity (valued at around $130 billion), certainly has resources to spare.

The foundation said: "The current pace of change means the window to get this right is shorter than we're used to, and the cost of getting it wrong is profound."

Sounds nice. But $250 million, compared to the $30 billion OpenAI spends per year, is less than 1% of the budget. It's the definition of ethical greenwashing: I acknowledge the problem, pretend to address it, and keep scaling the model while the social cost is paid by others.

And while Western companies debate how to manage the impact, China opts for a different strategy: controlling talent.

🔒 China closes the door: DeepSeek and Alibaba won't let their researchers leave

Bloomberg reported Monday that China has begun imposing travel restrictions on people involved in advanced AI work at private companies, including DeepSeek and Alibaba. These researchers now need approval from "relevant authorities" before traveling abroad.

It's not a public policy — it's a quiet enforcement measure, confirmed by multiple sources familiar with the matter. The official argument is protection: China wants to prevent its best AI talent and knowledge of its proprietary models from being accessed, recruited, or subpoenaed by foreign governments.

But there's an obvious strategic dimension. China is racing to close the capability gap with US frontier labs. Restricting travel for DeepSeek and Alibaba's best researchers ensures those researchers focus on national development, limits the risk of brain drain to US labs, and reduces chances of technical knowledge reaching foreign intelligence agencies through informal channels.

My prediction: this will cost them long-term. The best researchers go where they have the most freedom to do interesting work. Restricting movement makes DeepSeek and Alibaba less attractive to global talent. The short-term security gain comes at a long-term talent loss.

Layoffs, compensation, and control. Three faces of the same problem: AI is advancing faster than our social structures can manage it. Companies laying off because AI is cheaper. Foundations putting $250M patches on a $30B problem. China closing borders to protect its advantage. Nobody really knows how to manage the social impact of this technology, and they're improvising on the fly. But at least, for the first time, everyone agrees the problem exists.

— Max