While some tech leaders shy away from admitting their job cuts are related to AI, Block CEO Jack Dorsey pointed to the advanced tech in cutting 40% of his staffers. Dorsey, who also founded Bluesky and Twitter (acquired by Elon Musk and renamed to X), is pulling back the curtain on a major layoff decision that hit a tipping point last December.
At the end of 2025, Dorsey and fellow Block leaders headed home for the holidays and tinkered with AI tools. And straight away, they recognized models like Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 and OpenAI’s Codex 5.3 were more powerful than before; reconvening with his team after the break, they agreed the company would not look the same, or be the same size, moving forward in the era of AI.
