AI Revolution Triggers Massive Tech Layoffs: Coinbase & Freshworks Announce 1,200 Job Cuts
The artificial intelligence revolution is reshaping the tech workforce at an unprecedented pace — and the human cost is becoming impossible to ignore. In one of the starkest signals yet, Coinbase and Freshworks announced combined layoffs of approximately 1,200 employees in May 2026, with both companies explicitly blaming AI automation for replacing human roles.
Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside confirmed that 500 jobs — or 11% of its global workforce — are being cut because AI now handles the bulk of routine engineering tasks. “Over half our code is written by AI,” Woodside told Reuters.
On the other hand, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the elimination of 700 positions — 14% of staff — declaring a mission to rebuild the crypto exchange as “lean, fast, and AI-native.” Armstrong’s restructuring plan includes flattening the company’s management hierarchy to no more than five layers below the CEO and creating so-called “AI-native pods,” where single employees may direct entire teams of AI agents.
The announcements pushed total tech sector layoffs to nearly 100,000 in 2026 alone, according to layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi — and industry analysts warn this is only the beginning. Meta, Block, and Snap have each cited AI efficiency gains as a driving force behind their own recent workforce reductions, underscoring a seismic structural shift across the entire industry.
Source: TechRadar