Demis Hassabis Thinks AI Job Cuts Are Dumb
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, believes that companies should leverage AI productivity gains rather than resorting to layoffs. He argues that the fear of AI displacing software developers stems from a lack of imagination about the potential for increased productivity. Hassabis emphasizes that AI should be used to expand capabilities and explore new ideas rather than replace human workers.
- ▪Hassabis thinks companies replacing developers with AI are making a big mistake.
- ▪He believes that increased productivity from AI should lead to doing more work, not layoffs.
- ▪Google's new AI model, Gemini 3.5 Flash, is designed to enhance coding capabilities.
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Will KnightBusinessMay 19, 2026 1:45 PMDemis Hassabis Thinks AI Job Cuts Are DumbThe CEO of Google DeepMind tells WIRED that companies should use the productivity gains of AI to do more, not lay people off.Photograph: Chris Jung/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyDemis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, is keen to talk about the coding skills of his company’s newest model, Gemini 3.5 Flash. The model has been trained to perform complex agentic coding tasks: translate large code bases from one language to another; find and fix bugs lurking deep in knotty code; and even write entire operating systems from scratch.Hassabis does not, however, think this spells doom for software developers.
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