In the first four months of 2026, 49,135 jobs were eliminated due to AI, accounting for 16% of all planned layoffs. The technology sector has been hit hardest. Since the beginning of the year, 85,411 tech workers have been laid off—a 33% year-over-year increase and the highest number for this period since 2023. In April alone, 21,490 AI-related layoffs occurred, representing 26% of all layoffs that month. Cognizant cut 12,000 to 15,000 employees; Cloudflare laid off about 20% of its workforce; Coinbase reduced its staff by 14%; and Snap cut 1,000 positions. All cited AI as a key driver. But have these companies become more profitable after laying off so many people? A Gartner survey of 350 companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion found that 80% of firms that deployed AI have also implemented layoffs—but there is no positive correlation between the scale of layoffs and return on investment. Companies that laid off more people did not earn more than those that laid off fewer. Layoffs create budget space, not investment returns. The companies achieving the highest returns took the opposite approach: using AI to amplify employee output rather than replace employees. Gartner calls this model the “human-amplified business.” Even Sam Altman has acknowledged the existence of “AI washing”—companies rebranding layoffs they were already planning as AI-driven structural changes. After all, in this game, “We’re embracing AI” is a much easier story to tell than “We’re actually making money from AI.”