Top exec reveals the ‘stupidest thing' companies adopting AI can do
Job market
Aviation news
EconomyFacebookTweetLink
Follow
The president of Cisco rejects the doomsday warnings from some tech leaders that artificial intelligence will make entry-level jobs vanish.
'I just refuse to believe that humans are going to be obsolete. It just seems like it's an absurd concept,' Jeetu Patel, who's also the chief product officer at AI infrastructure company Cisco, told CNN.
While Patel acknowledged there will be 'growing pains where people will get disrupted,' he strongly pushed back on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's comments saying AI will spike unemployment to as high as 20% and eliminate half of all white-collar entry level jobs.
He's one of several tech leaders that have pushed back on Amodei's narrative; others have said AI is likely to change jobs by requiring workers to adopt new skills rather than wiping out jobs completely. Still, his comments come amid a plunge in entry-level hiring and as tech giants are increasingly using AI in the workplace, raising questions about the future of work.
'Dario is a friend. We are investors in Anthropic. I have a ton of respect for what he's done. In this area though, I have a slightly different opinion on a couple of different dimensions,' Patel said Wednesday at Ai4, an AI conference in Las Vegas. 'I reject the notion that humans are going to be obsolete in like five years, that we're not going to have anything to do and we're going to be sitting on the beach… It doesn't make any sense.'
In particular, Patel said he has a 'huge concern' with Amodei's line of thinking that AI could wipe out entry-level jobs because companies benefit from adding younger workers who often better understand new technologies.
'If you just say, 'I'm going to eradicate all entry-level jobs,' that's the stupidest thing a company can do in the long term because what you've done is you've actually taken away the injection of new perspective,' the Cisco exec said.
Patel argued that for some jobs, having significant experience can be a 'massive liability.' For instance, he said people often hold assumptions about things that may not have worked five years ago, but do now.
That's why Patel said he spends 'an enormous amount of time' with younger employees and interns.
'I learn a lot from people who've just gotten out of college because they have a fresh and unique perspective. And that perspective coupled with (my) experience makes magic happen,' Patel said. 'It would be a really bad strategy to not have early in career people and entry level people injected in your workplace.'
However, some economists say there are early signs suggesting AI may already be depressing entry-level jobs.
Even though the overall job market has been mostly healthy, the Class of 2025 faces the worst job market for new college graduates in years.
For the first time since tracking started in 1980, the unemployment rate for recent graduates (those 22 to 27 years old with at least a bachelor's degree) is higher than the national unemployment rate, according to Oxford Economics.
Entry-level hiring has tumbled by 23% between March 2020 and May 2025, outpacing the 18% decline in overall hiring over that span, according to data from LinkedIn.
This is happening for a variety of reasons, some of them unrelated to AI.
But AI does seem to be playing a role, some economists say. For instance, Oxford Economics noted that employment in two industries vulnerable to AI disruption — computer science and mathematics — has dropped by 8% since 2022 for recent graduates. By comparison, employment has little changed in those industries for older workers.
'AI is definitely displacing some of these lower-level jobs,' Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics, told CNN in June.
Economists and AI researchers say the jobs most at risk involve repetitive tasks that can be automated, such as data input.
'The less interesting clerical jobs will go away. They will be automated. And if you don't automate, you'll go out of business,' Alan Ranger, vice president of marketing at Cognigy, told CNN on the sidelines of Ai4.
Cognigy would know: It sells conversational AI agents that provide customer support for banks, airlines and other companies.
Ranger said Cognigy's AI agents came to the rescue when German airline Lufthansa had to cancel every flight due to a strike in Germany earlier this year. The technology allowed Lufthansa to rebook thousands of flights per minute, he said.
Ranger argued that companies won't massively lay off customer support workers because humans still need to manage the AI agents, design the software and tackle other complex issues.
Yet he did concede that companies will have fewer customer support workers in the future as people leave the industry and retire, and because firms will hire for different roles.
'Account management and sales roles won't get replaced anytime soon,' Ranger said. 'An AI can't buy you a steak dinner.'
Patel, the Cisco executive, said the onus is on the tech industry and society as a whole to ensure a smooth transition to superintelligent AI.
'In tech, we live in a bubble. We keep thinking, 'Oh, disruption is just part of it.' But when a steel mill worker gets disrupted, they don't become an AI prompt engineer,' he said.
Patel said there is a lot of retraining and reskilling that must be done in tandem with governments and educators.
'The tech community has to actually take some responsibility for this,' he said. 'Because if we don't, you will create some level of pain in society and we want to make sure we avoid that.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
a few seconds ago
- Gizmodo
SpaceX Has Likely Skirted Federal Income Taxes for Decades, Investigation Reveals
Since its founding in 2002, Elon Musk's SpaceX has emerged as the leading force in commercial spaceflight and a key launch provider for the U.S. government. A recent investigation suggests its dominance may stem—at least in part—from two decades of federal tax avoidance. Internal company documents reviewed exclusively by The New York Times show that SpaceX can exploit net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards, a U.S. tax provision that lets companies use past losses to offset future taxable income. The documents indicate that SpaceX had accumulated nearly $5.4 billion in tax losses by the end of 2021, allowing it to avoid federal taxes on $5.4 billion of future income. The benefit is available to all companies, and in 2017, President Trump eliminated its expiration date. According to The Times, this means SpaceX can apply nearly $3 billion in past losses against future taxable income for as long as it wants. Gizmodo reached out to SpaceX for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. In June, Musk took to X—his own social media platform—to declare that SpaceX's revenue will exceed NASA's entire budget next year, capping off at a whopping $15.5 billion. The company's 2024 revenue was estimated at $13.1 billion, up from $8.7 billion in 2023, Payload reports. SpaceX is one of several multi-billion-dollar tech companies that have propelled Musk to the global stage and made him the richest man in the world. Their growth has been largely dependent on federal funding. In February, a Washington Post analysis found that Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits over the last 20-some years. Another 52 ongoing contracts across seven government agencies, including NASA, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration, could potentially pay Musk's companies an additional $11.8 billion over the next few years, WaPo reported. Most of these contracts are between SpaceX and NASA or the DoD. The documents reviewed by The New York Times indicated that nearly 84% of SpaceX's 2020 revenue and 76% of its 2021 revenue stemmed from federal contracts. Tax experts told The Times that avoiding more than $5 billion in federal income taxes was substantial for a company that relies so heavily on government contracts. The documents suggest SpaceX has paid some income tax to foreign and state governments since 2002, but probably not to the U.S. government, according to The Times. SpaceX's alleged ability to shield billions in future profits from the IRS presents a troubling paradox: a company that owes much of its growth to federal funding may give comparatively little back to public coffers. It doesn't appear that this one-sided relationship will come to an end anytime soon, as SpaceX has become an integral part of the U.S. space economy and national defense.
Fast Company
a few seconds ago
- Fast Company
Rewriting the rules of enterprise growth: How LG NOVA is launching AI-native ventures without relying on M&A
In early 2025, LG NOVA's Sokwoo Rhee laid out a compelling new model about how large enterprises don't need to rely solely on acquisitions or internal R&D to innovate. Instead, they can co-create new businesses by combining corporate infrastructure with startup agility, outside capital, and shared go-to-market momentum. Now, that framework is moving from theory to reality. Through its innovation unit, LG NOVA, LG Electronics has launched two new ventures that showcase this collaborative model in action: PADO, an AI -powered orchestration platform for data center energy management, and Primefocus Health, a home healthcare solution focused on chronic disease monitoring and post-discharge care. Each reflects LG NOVA's deliberate pivot toward building AI-native businesses in high-impact categories like health tech, clean tech, and energy optimization. 'These companies aren't just ideas,' says Rhee, executive vice president at LG Electronics and head of LG NOVA. 'They're real-world examples of how a large corporation can create new ventures from scratch—faster, smarter, and without doing everything internally.' Rather than starting with internal ideas, LG NOVA looks outward to support external innovation. Each year, the team interacts with roughly 1,000 startups to identify patterns across sectors and technologies. 'If you look at one or two startups, you only get part of the story,' says Rhee. 'But if you look at a thousand, you can do real statistical analysis on where the market is heading.' That analysis results in about two dozen internal business concepts annually. A rigorous funneling process narrows that down to one or two spinouts per year, each built in collaboration with ecosystem partners. PADO and Primefocus Health emerged from that pipeline. Primefocus, launched in 2024, is tackling the increasingly critical space of remote care. 'When patients are discharged from hospitals, they still need to be monitored, especially those with chronic conditions like diabetes or musculoskeletal disorders,' says Rhee. 'Primefocus gives providers a way to continue managing care at home, with better data and better outcomes.' PADO, which launched earlier this year, focuses on sustainability in one of the world's most power-hungry industries: data centers. 'There's a surprising amount of energy waste even within a single data center,' Rhee explains. 'PADO uses AI to optimize how power is distributed inside the facility, reducing energy consumption and cost. As AI infrastructure expands, this kind of orchestration will be essential to fueling the growth that AI computing will demand.' WHY LG BUILDS BEFORE BUYING Unlike traditional corporate accelerators or M&A-focused ventures, LG NOVA doesn't acquire startups or simply invest passively. It aims to build companies. Each new venture is led by an entrepreneur-in-residence—often a founder with prior exits—who helps develop the concept inside LG NOVA and ultimately becomes CEO of the spinout. 'People assume that if you want startup innovation, you need to buy it,' says Rhee. 'But that's not always true. We build these businesses ourselves, and then we strategically license or partner for key components. It's modular by design.' That was the case with PADO. While the core AI engine was developed internally, the PADO team didn't waste time trying to build non-core components from scratch. 'We licensed technologies from startups to fill where we didn't need to build,' says Rhee. 'It saved time and let us focus on the parts that mattered most.' One major advantage of LG NOVA's model is its ability to secure early market traction through ecosystem partnerships. In the case of Primefocus Health, the company had a first customer— Marshall Health in West Virginia—lined up before the product launched. 'As a startup, getting that first customer is often the hardest thing,' Rhee says. 'By bringing in partners early, we de-risk the launch. We've even seen state governments express interest in hosting pilot deployments because it means job creation and economic growth.' LG NOVA also co-invests alongside outside funders through an external venture fund. While that diversifies risk, it also adds critical outside perspective. 'We don't assume we're always right,' says Rhee. 'External investors challenge our thinking. If they say, 'This is where the market is going,' we take that seriously.' BALANCING SPEED AND SCALE Building startups inside a Fortune Global 500 company isn't easy. Timelines, expectations, and resource allocations all look different. That's why LG NOVA's process is uniquely designed to work within corporate constraints without sacrificing startup momentum. 'Large companies want results in a few years—not decades,' Rhee says. 'So, we intentionally focus on ventures that could become billion-dollar businesses within five years. That's our benchmark.' Resource constraints also influence how ideas are prioritized. 'LG is a big company, but that doesn't mean LG NOVA gets unlimited support,' he adds. 'Every decision has to account for time, capital, and organizational patience.' As a result, the team is constantly iterating its launch process. Primefocus was introduced with a partially developed product that matured post-launch. PADO, by contrast, was more fully formed at the time of its debut. 'There's no such thing as 100% ready,' Rhee says. 'But the more ventures we launch, the more we refine what 'ready enough' really means.' A NEW PLAYBOOK FOR CORPORATE GROWTH For enterprise leaders looking to expand into new markets, LG NOVA's model offers a viable alternative to M&A or long-cycle R&D. It's a repeatable, partnership-driven playbook that blends startup innovation with corporate scale. 'M&A isn't always the answer. Traditional R&D is too slow,' Rhee says. 'But co-creating with startups under the right structure can give you both speed and ownership.' With more ventures already in the pipeline, LG NOVA isn't just exploring new ideas—it's industrializing a method for building what Rhee calls 'AI-native businesses in asset-light markets.' For companies that want to grow beyond their legacy categories, it's a roadmap worth watching. 'Any big company trying to enter new territory has to ask: Are we willing to build differently?' Rhee says. 'Because the old playbook won't get you there.'
CNET
a few seconds ago
- CNET
Our Favorite Gaming Router Just Hit a Record-Low Price
While some are content to use the router supplied by their internet provider, anyone who games knows that it's well worth an upgrade to a higher caliber router. Even better when that router is discounted to an all-time low. Such is the case with the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 WiFi gaming router, which was awarded best overall WiFi router in our roundup of routers. Regularly priced at $260, this router is currently down to $180 at Amazon right now. That's an $80 discount on one of the top routers on the market. "This thing just works," writers CNET senior writer and reviewer Joe Supan, who chose the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 as the best overall router in general. While it's a router geared toward gamers, Supan notes, "The GT-AX6000 is clearly marketed toward gamers, but it's a great choice for anyone, regardless of gaming habits. It comes with a ton of nice bells and whistles for gamers -- WAN and LAN aggregation, game console prioritization, simple port forwarding -- but that doesn't mean you have to use them. This router checked every box." He noted that it was the fastest router tested and held up this speed even at a distance. "The GT-AX6000 also clocked a near-zero 0.03 jitter score on the 5GHz band. In other words, your actions register on your screen nearly instantaneously," said Supan. For gamers, this is a critical feature, allowing for real-time decisions reflected immediately in your gaming sphere, no glitching out. For non-gamers, though, or those times when you're using your internet for other things like work and streaming, you'll only benefit from these speeds. Why this deal matters Having an ultra fast WiFi router can literally change your life, so for those that game, work from home, or just like to have the best and brightest, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 is a perfect choice. The fact that it is now under $200 just makes it even more worthwhile. This deal is likely to not last long, though. It is the lowest price we've ever seen this router, and we don't know when we might see an offer like this again.
