By Ben Shimkus
Publication Date: 2026-06-10 08:11:00
Alex Imas hasn’t yet seen evidence that AI is driving job losses.
During an interview with the “Dwarkesh Podcast,” the director of AGI economics at Google DeepMind and a professor of economics at the University of Chicago was asked if he’s seen any evidence of a white-collar jobs apocalypse. He said no.
Still, he warned of a hypothetical scenario that could trigger a “cascade effect” of FOMO-driven job cuts.
“Let’s say we get into a narrative where if you’re a firm and you’re not laying people off, then you’re seen as not adapting AI enough,” he said. “That’s super worrying, where the firm might actually be worse off after the layoffs than before the layoffs, but it’s just doing the layoffs to have the perception that, ‘Look, we’re not behind the times. We’re using AI.'”
A Google DeepMind spokesperson said Imas appeared on the podcast in a personal capacity and reiterated that the scenario he discussed was hypothetical. The spokesperson said…
