AI's ability to displace jobs is advancing quickly, Anthropic CEO says (www.axios.com)

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned at the Axios AI+ DC Summit that AI’s capacity to displace human labor is accelerating rapidly — to the point that he and others have argued up to half of white‑collar jobs could be at risk within five years. Amodei described the trajectory as “exponential” and said the pace makes it likely governments will need to intervene to support workers as roles are automated. Co‑founder Jack Clark, who runs Anthropic’s policy efforts, echoed the call for large‑scale policy responses and said the company plans a major Washington, D.C. expansion to prepare lawmakers for fast‑unfolding industry changes. The comments matter because they frame AI not as a distant risk but as an imminent economic and social disruptor that may outstrip current policy capacity. Technically, the emphasis is on rapid deployment and compounding capability gains in models and tooling that can replace a range of cognitive tasks — especially routine white‑collar work — even as early evidence (MIT’s State of AI in Business 2025) shows initial impact is more pronounced on outsourced, offshore roles. The combination of fast model improvement, aggressive corporate adoption, and a tight U.S. labor market raises stakes for workforce retraining, social safety nets, and legislative action to manage transition at scale.