David Sacks downplays AI job loss fears, calling them overhyped and not imminent

David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, has dismissed growing concerns that artificial intelligence will cause widespread job losses, calling such fears overhyped and not imminent. In a post on X, Sacks argued that the idea of AI rapidly self-improving to achieve superintelligence or triggering an existential threat to humanity is exaggerated. Sacks, a prominent tech investor who has backed companies like Airbnb, Facebook, and Uber, acknowledged the significant progress in AI quality, usability, and cost efficiency across leading model developers. However, he stressed that this advancement does not justify doomsday predictions. “It's just not the stuff of apocalyptic pronouncements. Oppenheimer has left the building,” he wrote, referencing the Manhattan Project scientist and drawing a contrast between real scientific achievement and speculative alarmism. One of the central concerns Sacks addressed is the fear that AI will replace human workers en masse. He countered that AI still requires substantial human involvement—particularly in crafting effective prompts and verifying outputs—making full automation of most jobs unrealistic in the near term. “This means that apocalyptic predictions of job loss are as overhyped as AGI itself,” he said. Instead, Sacks reinforced the widely cited idea that the real threat isn’t AI replacing people outright, but rather individuals or companies using AI more effectively outpacing those who don’t. “You're not going to lose your job to AI but to someone who uses AI better than you,” he noted. Sacks is not alone in challenging the AGI hype. Google Brain co-founder Andrew Ng has previously stated that AGI has been overhyped and emphasized that AI still has significant limitations, especially in areas where human judgment and common sense are required. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also expressed skepticism, coining the term “artificial jagged intelligence” to describe today’s AI—powerful in some areas but prone to basic errors and inconsistencies. While Sacks did not respond to a request for comment, his message underscores a growing sentiment among some tech leaders: while AI is transforming industries, its current capabilities are being overstated in popular discourse, and the immediate risk of mass unemployment remains largely unfounded.