Jack Dorsey Fires 4,000 People to Let AI Practically Do Their Jobs

KEY POINTS

•Jack Dorsey announced in February 2026 that Block would cut 40% of its roughly 11,000 employees.
•He explained the company aims to become a smaller, faster, ‘intelligence-native’ firm using AI tools developed internally.
•Despite layoffs, CFO Amrita Ahuja said they increased engineer productivity by over 40% and continue hiring senior AI engineers.

In a move that screams modern business while whispering workforce trauma, Block CEO Jack Dorsey announced chopping roughly 40% of Block's 11,000 employees on a chilly February Thursday earnings call. According to Dorsey, December 2025 was the magical month when AI models suddenly gained 'an order of magnitude' in intelligence—because apparently AI gets smarter faster than humans get fired. While 4,000 employees were shown the door, CFO Amrita Ahuja proudly declared a 40% boost in engineering output thanks to AI tools replacing human toil. Irony alert: Block still hunts for senior AI engineers even as it downsizes human engineers, defining the 'intelligence-native company' as one part AI wizard, one part HR nightmare. Jack says 'most companies are late'—you bet, and Block’s early move looks like sending humans to pasture and AI to the throne.