By Jason Ma
Publication Date: 2026-01-12 18:47:00
Pioneering computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, whose work earned him a Nobel Prize and the nickname “Godfather of AI,” said artificial intelligence would trigger a surge in unemployment and profits.
In a detailed interview with the Financial Times Last year, the former Google scientist opened up about why he left the tech giant, warned about potential threats from AI and revealed how he uses the technology. But he also predicted who the winners and losers would be.
“What will actually happen is that rich people will use AI to replace workers,” Hinton said in September. “It will lead to massive unemployment and a huge increase in profits. It will make some people much richer and most people poorer. That’s not the fault of AI, it’s the fault of the capitalist system.”
That reflected the comments he had made Assets in August 2025, when he said AI companies were more concerned with short-term profits than the long-term consequences of…
