Xbox Producer Tells Laid-Off Workers to Turn to AI For Advice If They're Feeling 'Overwhelmed' Microsoft announced mass layoffs last week, affecting around 9,000 employees.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Dan Bova
Key Takeaways
- Xbox executive producer Matt Turnbull was not impacted by Microsoft's most recent layoff round last week, but he had a message on LinkedIn for those who were: Use ChatGPT “to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss.”
- Turnbull deleted his post by the time of writing after a swift backlash.
After Microsoft laid off 9,000 workers last week, 4% of its global workforce, one employee had an unusual message for those let go: turn to ChatGPT to help relieve the emotional burden.
Xbox executive producer Matt Turnbull wrote last week in a now-deleted LinkedIn post that amid these "really challenging times," employees are "not alone" and they "don't have to go it alone."
Instead, they can use AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot "to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss," Turnbull wrote. He completed the post with some prompt ideas and use cases of AI that could help if laid-off workers are "feeling overwhelmed." The use cases included resume tailoring, networking messages, and career planning.
"No AI tool is a replacement for your voice or your lived experience," Turnbull wrote in the post. "But at a time when mental energy is scarce, these tools can help you get unstuck faster, calmer, and with more clarity."
Turnbull experienced swift backlash from other professionals on LinkedIn for his post and eventually deleted it, according to Tech Radar. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was not impacted by Microsoft's layoffs last week.
As Microsoft lays off workers, it continues to invest deeply in AI. The company is spending $80 billion this year to build data centers for AI models.
AI is also taking over coding at Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a sit-down chat with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in April that Microsoft engineers are using AI to write 20% to 30% of code for company projects.
He stated that the amount of code created by AI varies based on the programming language. AI writes "fantastic" Python code but "not that great" C++ code, Nadella noted.
Other tech companies are spending heavily on AI and using it in daily operations, too. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on an earnings call in April that Google was using AI to write "well over 30%" of new code, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in January that Meta is developing AI to write code on par with a mid-level engineer. Google is spending up to $75 billion on AI this year, while Meta is spending up to $65 billion.
Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies in the world at the time of writing, second only to Nvidia, with a market cap of $3.7 trillion.
