White House AI czar dismisses warnings of 20% AI-driven unemployment

White House AI czar David Sacks pushed back against warnings that artificial intelligence could trigger mass unemployment, dismissing what he called a “doomer cult” that overestimates AI’s job displacement potential. His comments directly counter recent predictions from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who warned that AI could eliminate up to half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years and drive unemployment as high as 20%.

What they’re saying: Sacks argued that AI will augment rather than entirely replace human workers, speaking at the Amazon Web Services summit in Washington, DC.

• “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to lead to a giant wave of unemployment,” Sacks said. “I think it’s actually very hard to replace a human job entirely. I think it’s easier to replace pieces of it.”
• “I don’t think we’re going to have 20% unemployment,” he added.

The contrasting view: Anthropic’s Amodei, whose company builds advanced AI systems, has been sounding alarms about AI’s rapid advancement and its potential to displace workers faster than they can adapt.

• “I really worry, particularly at the entry level, that the AI models are very much at the center of what an entry level human-worker would do,” Amodei told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
• “AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we’re going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it,” he continued.

Economic optimism vs. public concern: Sacks painted a picture of AI-driven economic growth while acknowledging the disconnect with public sentiment.

• He predicted AI could drive US growth rates to “something like 4 or 5%” and described the technology as “a huge economic tailwind.”
• However, a recent Pew Research Center survey found nearly two-thirds of US adults believe AI will lead to fewer jobs over the next two decades, with more than half expressing extreme concern about AI-related job losses.

National security implications: Sacks emphasized the competitive urgency, warning that China remains close behind in AI development.

• “China is not years behind us in AI,” he said. “It’s a very close race” with China only “three to six months behind the United States.”
• This competitive pressure comes as Trump’s domestic policy bill includes a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulations, which critics warn could shield AI companies from accountability for societal harms.

The reality check: While maintaining his optimistic stance, Sacks acknowledged that AI adoption won’t be painless for all workers.

• “There will be some retraining that is required for students and workers, and I don’t want to minimize that,” he said.
• He compared resistance to AI advancement to “telling the tides to stop,” arguing that preparation is more practical than prevention.