JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across society will cause “social unrest” unless governments and businesses work together to reduce the impact on the job market.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Dimon said that AI “can lead to a more productive society, but…” [and] The idea is that many cancers can be cured, and it needs to be rolled out in stages to prevent the possibility of large-scale social unrest.
“My philosophy is, ‘Don’t stick your head in the sand,’ and that’s what it is. We’ll play it out. Will it eliminate jobs? Yes. Will it change jobs? Yes. Will it also create more jobs? Probably. That’s what it is,” Dimon said. “But I think it could be too fast for society. And if it is too fast for society, that’s where government and business need to work together.” [need to] Work together to figure out how to retrain people or move them over time. ”
Dimon highlighted the example of America’s 2 million commercial truck drivers, saying that all of these people could earn between $150,000 and $25,000 a year in their next job if they introduced AI all at once when efficient driverless vehicles hit the roads. “Should we do it all at once? … No, let’s do it in phases because there will be social unrest,” he said.
Acknowledging that even JPMorgan is likely to lose its workforce within five years due to the use of AI, Dimon urged governments to start planning now, including by developing retraining, wage support and reassignment programs to help workers displaced by technology. He added that governments also need to develop new incentives to help businesses slow the adoption of AI and ensure they provide income support.
“If a town loses a factory and loses jobs, they can get income support, relocation, early retirement, retraining. They may have to do that to save society,” he said.
Interviewer Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief economistnoted that previous trade adjustment assistance programs in the United States have been “incredibly inadequate,” and Dimon agreed, saying, “We need to have something that works this time.”
Commenting further on JPMorgan’s own use of AI, Dimon said the Wall Street financial institution has so far developed about 500 use cases for the technology across its business units, noting that while there are clear efficiency benefits to be gained from AI, it also has the potential to fundamentally change the business as it develops further.
“Agents, taking the next step can change your business, the speed at which things happen, and the way people access our systems,” he said, adding that companies need to develop AI capabilities to remain competitive, especially given the proliferation of fintech companies in recent years.
“If you stick your head in the sand, you lose. I think that was true 30 years ago, but it’s probably even more true today. And the brainpower and money that goes into this. [AI] Things are abnormal. Therefore, if you don’t work faster and faster, you will lose quickly. ”
Job losses are already starting to hit the tech industry itself, with companies around the world cutting staff to increase spending and investment in AI tools. For example, Amazon laid off 14,000 employees in October 2025, a decision specifically prompted and enabled by the company’s AI investments.
In August 2025, the UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) warned that AI-powered economic growth was leaving workers behind, and stressed the importance of collective bargaining as technology becomes more ingrained in the workplace.
The report noted that some employers may be using AI to cut costs or automate existing processes rather than invest, expand, and innovate. “Such decisions are more likely to result in worker layoffs and downskilling, rather than augmenting, expanding, or reskilling the workforce as part of a technology upgrade.”
The authors said that as machines do more work and demand for skilled workers and the workforce as a whole decreases, workers may not get their fair share, and the surplus may increasingly be captured by employers and AI companies.
In November 2023, the UK Autonomy think tank argued that automating jobs through large-scale language models (LLMs) could lead to significant reductions in working hours without compromising wages or productivity, but that concerted political action would be required to realize the productivity benefits of AI in this way.
The think tank added that this is because it is clear that productivity gains will not always be shared equally between employers and employees and will depend on “geography, demographics, business cycles and other essential labor market factors such as workers’ access to collective bargaining”.
To bring about positive AI-driven change for employers as well as workers, Autonomy recommended the establishment of “automation hubs” backed by union and industry agreements to accelerate the adoption of LLMs in an equitable manner.
