Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says AI-driven layoffs are the wrong response to new productivity gains. Speaking to WIRED ahead of Google I/O, Hassabis criticizes companies that reduce engineering headcount in order to pursue AI “productivity gains,” calling such moves “dumb” and describing them as a “lack of imagination.” His remarks arrive amid broader public debate about whether rapid advances in AI contribute to job losses in the tech sector and beyond. Hassabis’s comments are discussed alongside warnings from other AI industry leaders. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, has cautioned about the possibility of large-scale white-collar job losses linked to AI adoption. Meanwhile, multiple companies—including Meta, Amazon, and Block—have publicly attributed thousands of layoffs to AI-related shifts and changing business priorities. The reporting frames Hassabis’s position as an argument for redeploying or expanding work rather than cutting staff, while noting the ongoing disagreement about AI’s employment impact.