Intuit Lays Off 3,000 Employees as CEO Denies AI Connection in Mad Money Interview - OpenTools

Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi has cut 3,000 jobs — 17% of the workforce — and closed two offices, but please, don't you dare suggest it's AI-related. In a Mad Money interview, Goodarzi insisted the layoffs are 'not about AI,' even as the company plows millions into its 'AI-driven expert platform.' Sure, and the sky is not blue. The coincidence of firing a sixth of your staff while pivoting to automation is about as believable as a tax refund from the IRS arriving on time.

Goodarzi's denial is a masterpiece of corporate gaslighting. He claims the cuts are about 'reprioritizing resources' — because nothing says 'reprioritization' like shoving 3,000 people out the door while simultaneously investing in the very technology that will make their roles obsolete. The closures of offices in Reno and Woodland Hills add a delightful geographic touch: let's abandon entire communities, but call it 'restructuring.' Perhaps the CEO truly believes that replacing customer support with chatbots is just a happy accident of strategic realignment.

So here we are: another quarter, another round of mass layoffs, another CEO swearing blind that AI had nothing to do with it. The gallows-humour crowd knows the script by now. First, deny. Second, vaguely promise new jobs in 'AI-driven areas.' Third, watch the stock tick up as the severance checks go out. Goodarzi can protest all he wants on CNBC, but the pattern speaks louder than any denial. The only question left is whether we'll eventually run out of people to fire before the machines learn to laugh at our little jokes.