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AI WASHING

AI is becoming a go-to reason for layoffs — but is it actually replacing workers?

Economists say the technology’s footprint on the job market remains hard to find... for now.

12h

The US labor market is at an interesting place. On the one hand, unemployment remains pretty low. But Corporate America is still unwinding some of the pandemic-era hiring binge — data out yesterday from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009.

And some of those job cuts are being blamed on AI.

Just last week, Pinterest said it would trim ~15% of its workforce, with CEO Bill Ready telling staff he was “doubling down on an AI-forward approach.” Dow Chemical announced plans to cut about 4,500 jobs while leaning into “AI and automation.” Amazon slashed 16,000 jobs, continuing cuts from last year, alongside a slew of tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Salesforce — all of which have linked job cuts to AI-driven efficiency gains.

Per Challenger, nearly 55,000 US job cuts were attributed to AI in 2025. That’s roughly a thirteenfold increase from two years earlier, when the category was first tracked.

Blame game

However, a growing body of research questions whether jobs are actually being lost to AI — or whether employers are simply “AI-washing,” using the investor-friendly buzzword to explain their downsizing decisions.

In a January report, Oxford Economics suggested the role of AI in recent layoffs may be “overstated,” noting that productivity growth hasn’t accelerated in a way consistent with widespread labor replacement. Attributing job cuts to AI, the group added, “conveys a more positive message to investors” than citing weak demand or past overhiring. Meanwhile, new analysis from Yale Budget Lab found that employment patterns look largely unchanged from pre-AI trends.

So why is AI looming so large in layoff narratives today, even as its macro impact remains hard to spot? One possibility is that companies are downsizing for what AI might deliver in the future, not what it already can.

Indeed, 60% of organizations have already reduced headcount in anticipation of AI’s future impact, according to a December Harvard Business Review survey of more than 1,000 global executives. Another 29% have slowed hiring for the same reason, while just 2% said they’ve made large layoffs tied to actual AI implementation.

J. Edward Moreno59m

FDA says it will take “decisive steps” against GLP-1 compounders, HHS refers Hims to DOJ for investigation

The Food and Drug Administration said it would take "decisive steps" to restrict GLP-1 compounding, a day after Hims & Hers announced that it would sell copies ofNovo Nordisk’sWegovy pill.

The FDA specifically called out Hims in the announcement. Additionally Department of Health and Human Services' General Counsel Mike Stuart said in a post on X on Friday he has referred Hims to the Department of Justice "for investigation for potential violations by Hims of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and applicable Title 18 provisions."

Based on a review of the applicable facts, earlier today @HHSOGC referred Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (“Hims”) to the Department of Justice for investigation for potential violations by Hims of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and applicable Title 18 provisions.
— HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart (@HHSGCMikeStuart) February 6, 2026

This marks a significant shift in tone from the FDA, which has done little to prevent companies like Hims from marketing copies of Novo's lucrative weight loss drugs.

Shares of Hims fell 14% after hours. The stock had already taken a hit after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in an X post on Thursday that the agency would “take swift action against companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs.”

Hims, long flying under regulators’ radar, finally strikes a nerve with its Wegovy pill copy

Based on a review of the applicable facts, earlier today @HHSOGC referred Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (“Hims”) to the Department of Justice for investigation for potential violations by Hims of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and applicable Title 18 provisions.
— HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart (@HHSGCMikeStuart) February 6, 2026

This marks a significant shift in tone from the FDA, which has done little to prevent companies like Hims from marketing copies of Novo's lucrative weight loss drugs.

Tasha Matsumoto

Tech rebound propels stocks to best day since May

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all climbed higher as the AI trade was back on.

Chicago Bulls Dennis Rodman (91) and Michael Jordan (23) in action, rebounding vs Charlotte Hornets

Max Knoblauch5h

Airlines rise, continuing their volatile 2026, as US-Iran talks may foreshadow some oil supply relief

Airline stocks are surging on Friday, as the market appears to be pricing in some medium-term oil pricing relief following talks between the US and Iran. Iranian officials referred to the meeting as “a good beginning.”

Shares of budget carriers, which have tighter margins and are more sensitive to fluctuations in fuel costs, are leading the surge. Frontier Airlines and Allegiant up more than 13%, while major airlines like United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines are also up at least 6%. JetBlue and Alaska Air are similarly up about 6%.

The market more broadly is rebounding on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 1.6% and bitcoin recovering some of this week’s losses.

Airlines have been volatile to start 2026 amid geopolitical tensions, varying annual forecasts, and the impact of winter storms.

Luke Kawa7h

The AI supply chain is soaring thanks to Amazon’s capex budget

If tech companies are going to spend way more than expected on capex, well, that means other companies are poised to benefit from that massive spending spree.

Amazon’s plan for $200 billion in business investment this year was the exclamation point to end a reporting period that saw every Magnificent 7 hyperscaler that provides guidance offer a 2026 capex budget well above what Wall Street had anticipated.

Here’s a look at the different parts of the supply chain that are soaring on the persistent demand for, and seeming scarcity of, AI compute:

Data center/neocloud companies: Applied Digital, CoreWeave, Cipher Mining, and Nebius, with some of these seemingly getting an extra lift from their legacy role as crypto miners.
Chips: the usual suspects — Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices.
Racks: Super Micro Computer, which is continuing its strong run following earnings, and Dell.
Power: Oklo, Nuscale, and Plug Power.

Big Tech capital expenditure soared in 2025. It’s going up another 50% in 2026.

Here’s a look at the different parts of the supply chain that are soaring on the persistent demand for, and seeming scarcity of, AI compute:

Data center/neocloud companies: Applied Digital, CoreWeave, Cipher Mining, and Nebius, with some of these seemingly getting an extra lift from their legacy role as crypto miners.
Chips: the usual suspects — Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices.
Racks: Super Micro Computer, which is continuing its strong run following earnings, and Dell.
Power: Oklo, Nuscale, and Plug Power.

Matt Phillips7h

For memory chips, the “parabolic price hike” is continuing to ramp higher

The remarkable run-up in prices for memory chips continued into early February, analysts at Bernstein Research say, driven largely by data center demand from hyperscalers and cloud service providers (CSP).

Prices for NAND flash memory wafers — a type of memory used in devices, as it retains data even when powered down — soared 35% between the end of 2025 and February 2.

Spot prices for DRAM — ubiquitous short-term data storage chips — jumped about 28% in that period. But that massively understates the remarkable shift in pricing for what were long seen as commodity tech hardware inputs. DRAM prices are more than 2,000% over the last year, while NAND prices are up more than 600% in that period.

The ongoing momentum provides still more support for memory chip plays like Micron and Sandisk, which have been big market winners in recent months.

In a note published earlier this week, Bernstein Research analysts wrote:

“The parabolic price hike continued in Jan. Indicated price increase for 1QCY26 is much stronger than we expected and we hence see upside to our near term memory pricing projection. Unrelenting CSP demand remained the main driver. PC and Mobile demand hasn’t been destroyed yet because of lean inventory & pull-forward purchase. Going forward price hike is expected to continue but likely at a slower rate, as PC and Mobile demand should contract meaningfully this year. Price however may stay elevated throughout this year, supported by CSP demand.”