Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the New York Times report that claimed Amazon is looking to replace 60,000 jobs with robots.
An X user wrote “Amazon is gonna replace 600,00 folks according to NYTimes — and that’s a low ball estimate IMO. It’s insane to think that a human will pack and ship boxes in ten years — it’s game over folks.”
This post caught the attention of Musk, who said, “AI and robots will replace all jobs.”
“Working will be optional, like growing your own vegetables, instead of buying them from the store,” Musk added in the post.
The New York Times report cites internal documents and interviews, and indicates that Amazon’s robotics team is working towards automating 75% of the company’s entire operations so that the company can cut 160,000 U.S. roles that would otherwise be needed by 2027. This is expected to save Amazon $12.6 billion from 2025 to 2027.
READ: Amazon may use robots to replace over 500,000 workers, leaked documents reveal (
The documents also stated that the company is attempting to prepare for anticipated backlash, by taking steps to be seen as a “good corporate citizen.” The company considered participating in community projects and avoiding terms like “automation” and “AI.” Vague terms like “advanced technology” were explored instead, and the use of the term “cobot” for robots that work alongside humans was suggested.
Amazon refuted the report, saying the documents viewed by the publication were incomplete and did not represent the company’s overall hiring strategy. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said that the company was planning to hire 250,000 people for the coming holiday season. The firm also said that it’s not insisting executives avoid certain terms, and that community involvement is unrelated to automation.
READ: Elon Musk’s robotaxi plan was a surprise to his investors (
Musk had previously said that people’s standards of living will be higher because of AI. “Goods and services will become close to free. It’s not as though people will be wanting in terms of goods and services. You have tens of billions of robots that will make you anything or provide any service you want for basically next to nothing,” he said in an interview with Ted Cruz in March.
“It’s not that people will have a lower standard of living, they’ll actually have a much higher standard of living. The challenge will be fulfillment. How do you derive fulfillment and meaning in life?” he added.