Meta’s AI team is close to a revolt

Let me start with the one everybody is talking about. Meta moved several thousand workers into a new Applied AI unit, and a lot of them are unhappy. Many describe repetitive data-labeling and forced reassignments, and a large group signed a petition against software that tracks their keystrokes and mouse movements.

The company’s own technology chief, Andrew Bosworth, did something rare. He admitted the rollout went badly. He told staff that morale is near its worst in 20 years and that leadership did an “atrocious” job. He also noted that median pay slipped from about $417,400 to $388,200.

His advice to nervous employees was blunt, if not a bit banal. AI won’t take your job, but someone who knows AI might.

Walmart tells its workers not to worry

Now to the company that touches the most lives. Walmart employs around 2 million people, and it is telling them their jobs are safe. The reassurance comes with fine print.

The company is trimming corporate and middle-management roles, and its leadership has talked about centralizing its platforms as AI reshapes retail. At the same time, Walmart keeps hiring cashiers, stockers, and warehouse staff. Stores still need people on the floor every day.

So the message to frontline workers is steady employment, while the message to the office is leaner teams.

Microsoft’s CEO compares AI to outsourcing

Satya Nadella, who runs Microsoft, warned that AI could “hollow out” whole industries the same way outsourcing once gutted manufacturing. He argued that if the value piles up in a few giant models, the politics will not hold.

He pointed back to the first wave of globalization, when the GDP numbers looked fine while the damage to workers and towns ran deep.

Meanwhile, Microsoft puts its Copilot assistant inside Word, Outlook, Excel, and Teams. Those are the tools millions of people open every morning.

The man warning about the potential harms of AI is also the one pushing the product.

State Farm agents feel betrayed

State Farm licensed an AI product for all of its agent offices and raised the limit on how many offices one agent can run, from three to six. It also ended a deferred-compensation program that agents were counting on for retirement.

Agents are furious, calling it a “false promise”. One mid-career agent figures the change will cost him about $1 million over ten years. The company says its agents stay central to how it serves customers.

The agents hear something different. They hear a lifetime contract getting quietly rewritten.

Uber cut its HR team while overspending on AI

Here is a smaller story with an outsized point. Uber eliminated about 23% of its People and Places division. The group handles human resources and workplace culture. The timing raised eyebrows.

The cut came days after the company admitted it burned through its entire 2026 AI coding budget in just four months. Uber says the two are unrelated and that the reorganization was about simplifying overlapping teams. Maybe so.

Still, a company that spent its AI money fast and then cut the people who look after its people is going to invite questions.

One loud voice says relax

Amidst the realities of companies replacing staff because of AI-related decisions, Jensen Huang, who runs Nvidia, thinks the panic is overblown.

Speaking on Bloomberg on June 1, he called the idea that AI is destroying jobs “complete nonsense”. His argument is that AI makes each engineer more productive, so companies want more of them, not fewer.

He is probably right that new jobs come eventually. The catch is timing. Early data shows employment for the youngest software developers falling while their older colleagues hold on.

New jobs may arrive. The real question for workers is whether they arrive before the rent is due.

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