Block, Jack Dorsey's fintech company, has cut 4,000 employees, reducing its workforce by 40%. Dorsey's memo was remarkable for its directness: "Intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week." He explicitly stated that a smaller team with AI tools can now accomplish what previously required a much larger organization.
This is the most aggressive AI-justified cut of 2026 by percentage. Dorsey is not hedging or using corporate euphemisms. He is saying, plainly, that AI has made 40% of his company's workforce redundant. The market rewarded this clarity with a significant stock increase.
Block's cuts raise uncomfortable questions about the pace of AI displacement. If a major fintech company can function with 60% of its previous workforce after just one year of AI tool adoption, what does that imply for companies that have not yet started their AI transitions?