What just happened? It's another day, another organization laying off hundreds of employees as AI replaces them. This time, the firm in question is freelance services marketplace Fiverr, whose CEO is making no secret about why 250 people are being let go at what is now an "AI-first company."
Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman shared an extensive essay on X about turning Fiverr into "an AI-first company that's leaner and simpler, dreams bigger, and builds faster." That also means fewer employees, of course.
Kaufman writes that AI is leading to fundamental changes in how businesses operate. The CEO then frames these changes as a "painful reset" that will see the company "parting ways," I.e., laying off, 250 team members, or about 30% of its staff across different departments.
– Micha Kaufman (@michakaufman) September 15, 2025
The rest of the message covers the usual boasts about not needing as many people to operate the existing business, improved efficiency, leanness, etc. There's also a bit about AI's ability to "liberate humans from manual and tedious tasks," like working for a living, presumably.
Kaufman has been hinting that the AI apocalypse would be arriving at Fiverr for a while. He sent an email to staff in April warning that AI was coming for everyone's job, even his own. Kaufman has a net worth of at least $417 million, so he's unlikely to be as worried at the prospect of losing his job as someone struggling to pay their bills each month.
The Fiverr boss urged employees at the time to "Drink a glass of water. Scream in front of the mirror if it helps. Now relax." He advised them to "automate 100 percent" of what they do in their jobs, claiming this wouldn't make them replaceable because people are capable of "non-linear thinking" and "judgement calls."
"I'm looking at this from an executive standpoint is we were given superpowers, but this should reflect in how people work. So, my expectations are double or triple the output per unit of time, and the same for the quality per unit of delivery," he told CBS.
"AI actually forces us to rediscover our humanity, the things that we are special in the special attributes of every person."
Whether the 250 people being laid off from Fiverr followed Kaufman's advice is unclear.
Before it gets out somewhere else, this is an email I sent yesterday morning to my team. It applies equally to the freelance community pic.twitter.com/eLnFlJE9CZ
– Micha Kaufman (@michakaufman) April 8, 2025
Fiverr's AI-fueled layoffs are small in number compared to other companies. Salesforce cut 4,000 support roles because of the technology, Glassdoor and Indeed laid off 1,300, and many others have released thousands of workers. Even those working on AI aren't safe, with Google and Elon Musk's xAI recently letting go of employees or contractors training these systems.
At this rate, one wonders how many people will still have jobs to fund the wonderful benefits of AI.
Fiverr lays off 30% of its staff as it pivots to an "AI-first" company
