“Articles about artificial intelligence, which not long ago were relegated to the technology and business sections of national newspapers, are now making the front pages.
Americans are realizing that AI can revolutionize the economy -- and, with it, society and politics.
While this isn't the first such transformative moment in American history, it may turn out to be the fastest. Four of America's largest tech firms -- Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon -- combined have had capital expenditures of $360 billion over the past year, much of it in AI development and data centers.
The already hectic pace of these investments is accelerating.
OpenAI last month completed its for-profit transition, turning its subsidiary into a public-benefit corporation, which will enable it to mobilize the capital and talent it needs to become a top player.
Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, could transform businesses; it's focusing on corporate customers rather than the mass search market.
Nvidia, whose advanced chips power AI, just became the world's first $5 trillion company.
When large corporations and industrial capitalism began to surge in the late 19th century, about half the nation's workforce was engaged in agricultural work. By 2023 the share working in agriculture had fallen to about 1.6%.
As recently as the 1950s, nonfarm manufacturing accounted for about one-third of the U.S. workforce, compared with about 8% this year. In each case, technological innovation accounted for much of the reduction.
Although these changes were wrenching for many workers, they usually occurred slowly enough for new sources of employment to absorb them.
This may not prove true for the displacements AI is beginning to trigger.
As a Journal headline announced last week, "Companies Bet They Can Grow Without Hiring," in part because of employers' expectation that AI will pick up the slack and automate more processes. In Monday's paper, another Journal headline declared that "U.S. Employers Are Becoming More Comfortable With Layoffs," in part because of optimism about AI's productivity-enhancing possibilities.
Amazon last week announced that it would cut some 14,000 corporate jobs as part of its plan to eliminate 10% of its white-collar workforce. UPS said it has reduced its management workforce by 14,000 in recent months. Salesforce and Microsoft have moved in the same direction. Other companies, including Rivian Automotive, Molson Coors, Booz Allen, Target, and General Motors revealed white-collar layoffs last month. Still others -- including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Walmart -- say they're thinking along similar lines, either by cutting head counts or keeping them flat.
Some companies are reporting direct and immediate effects of AI on their workforces. The CEO of the consulting firm SBI says that he has replaced 80% of his software-development team with AI, which writes code. The online-learning company Chegg said that it would cut about 45% of its workforce because it can use AI to answer students' questions.
This trickle could become a tidal wave. In June, Amazon's CEO said he expected to reduce his company's corporate workforce "as we get efficiency gains from using AI." Three months later, Walmart's CEO warned that AI is set "to change literally every job." John Challenger, CEO of the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, summed it up well: The recent "don't hire, don't fire" labor market is giving way to a broad economic restructuring as companies try "to be at the front edge of bringing AI into the way they work." He predicted that others would follow suit as the narrative of AI-induced change takes hold.
These developments are hitting newly minted college graduates especially hard. Anecdotes abound of graduates submitting hundreds of job applications without receiving a single reply, and the data back up these stories. The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that while the class of 2025 submitted more job applications than the class of 2024, it received fewer offers. Not surprisingly, parents of today's graduates are pessimistic that their children will be as able to find good jobs and enter the middle class as they themselves were. A mismatch is emerging between what employers want and what potential employees can offer.
Employers are demanding front-line and blue-collar workers, while many college graduates have softer, white-collar skills.
The loss of 5.7 million manufacturing jobs between January 2001 and January 2010 helped fuel the discontent that sparked the tea party and set the stage for the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
It may now be the white-collar sector's turn to bear the brunt of economic dislocation.
If millions of college graduates end up unemployed or underemployed within the next few years, a new political eruption seems likely. We may already be seeing its beginning in New York City with Zohran Mamdani's appeal to young voters. There's nothing more politically potent than disappointed expectations.” [1]
1. Politics & Ideas: The Coming White-Collar Political Upheaval. Galston, William A. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 05 Nov 2025: A15.
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