Microsoft president says Gen Z's AI backlash is a wake-up call

Microsoft President Brad Smith urged tech leaders to listen after college graduates booed AI during commencement speeches. In a blog post he called the backlash "a powerful wake-up call for the tech sector." Executives have long framed AI as transformative and warned about job losses.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said last year AI could "wipe out half of all entry-level jobs." Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman predicted computer work "will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months." Those warnings help explain why graduates — many poised to fill the entry-level roles Amodei mentioned — booed speakers such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Smith acknowledged those concerns, noting today's graduates face "AI automation of tasks in current entry-level positions" and pressure from companies cutting head count while pouring billions into AI infrastructure. He observed that tech leaders have started emphasizing productivity gains over job losses as they court public markets and confront opposition to data centers.

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