TL;DR: Ford CEO Jim Farley has joined a growing chorus of prominent business leaders warning that AI could replace millions of jobs in the near future. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Farley said he believes that "literally half" of all white-collar workers in the US could lose their jobs to artificial intelligence in the coming years.
Farley did not elaborate on his views, but he is hardly the only Fortune 500 CEO who believes AI could spell trouble for educated white-collar workers. Leaders at Amazon, Shopify, JPMorgan Chase, Anthropic, Fiverr, Moderna, and other major companies are now openly admitting what was once discussed in hushed tones on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley.
Earlier this week, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned that the rapid improvement in generative AI will make many positions redundant within the company. Speaking to CNBC, Jassy said that while AI will replace some roles, it will likely create new opportunities in robotics and other areas requiring STEM skills and technical proficiency.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also warned that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially increasing unemployment by 10 – 20 percent within five years. The company's CPO, Mike Krieger, expressed a similar view, telling The New York Times that he feels "hesitant" hiring new graduates because he doesn't know how long those positions will remain relevant.
Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman recently echoed these concerns, warning that AI could render millions of white-collar workers unemployed, regardless of whether they're programmers, designers, product managers, data scientists, lawyers, customer support reps, salespeople, or financial analysts.
Spotify and Moderna CEOs have also expressed similar views. Spotify's Tobi Lütke has paused hiring pending an internal study to evaluate whether AI can efficiently perform tasks currently done by human employees. Moderna's Stéphane Bancel, meanwhile, believes the company will not need more than "a few thousand employees," thanks to the growing availability of powerful AI tools.
Recent research suggests that workers are taking these warnings seriously. According to a May 2025 study by PYMNTS Intelligence, 54 percent of US workers believe generative AI poses a significant risk to their jobs, with the most educated and tech-savvy individuals expressing the highest level of concern.
One notable exception to this growing list of AI doomsday prophets is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He dismissed predictions of large-scale job displacement as "overly alarmist" and pushed back on Dario Amodei's warnings. Huang has advocated for transparent and collaborative AI development as a way to mitigate potential risks.
Ford CEO joins list of execs warning AI could eliminate millions of white-collar jobs