Dorsey’s Job Cuts at Block a Case of "AI-Washing," Says Critic

When Block laid off nearly half its staff last week, co-founder Jack Dorsey offered a seemingly simple explanation—artificial intelligence was allowing the company to do more with fewer employees, Bloomberg News reported.

Dorsey is allegedly back to his old tactics. (Photo: Thomas Hawk Flickr)

The announcement landed at the center of a complex debate over AI and the future of work: on one side, genuine fears that the technology will displace jobs at an unprecedented pace; on the other, deep cynicism that companies are exploiting that fear to dress up old-fashioned cost-cutting as technological futurism.

Marcelo P. Lima, founder and managing partner at Heller House, told Bloomberg Businessweek Daily that Dorsey is back to his old tactics.

Lima, a vocal critic of Dorsey’s management style at Block, posted soon after the layoff announcement that the reduction in force “is the new Citrini fake narrative.”