Anthropic Warns AI Could Cause 20% Unemployment, Launches Economic Futures Program to Study Impact
San Francisco, CA – June 28, 2025 – As silicon Valley touts the economic benefits of generative AI, a stark warning from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggests a perhaps devastating impact on the job market. Amodei predicts AI could eliminate 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially spiking unemployment to 10-20% within the next one to five years [[1]], [[2]], [[3]]. This level of unemployment would rival that seen during the Great Depression.The warning comes as Anthropic launched its Economic Futures Program on friday, an initiative designed to research the broader economic impacts of AI and develop policy proposals to navigate the coming shifts. The program will focus on grants for researchers, policy forums, and the creation of open-source datasets to track AI’s economic usage [SOURCE].
“Everybody’s asking questions about what are the economic impacts [of AI] both positive and negative,” said Sarah Heck, head of policy programs and partnerships at Anthropic. “It’s really significant to root these conversations in evidence and not have predetermined outcomes or views on what’s going to [happen].” [SOURCE]
While some analysts predict AI will boost GDP [SOURCE], concerns remain about the unequal distribution of those gains amidst potential widespread