Apple indefinitely halts plan to replace 5,000 support jobs with AI agents
Summary
Apple indefinitely pauses plans to eliminate about 5,000 support jobs with AI agents, even as its 1-800-APL-CARE line in the U.S. and Canada routes callers through a generative-AI troubleshooter before escalating unresolved cases to human advisors.
Key Points
- Apple indefinitely puts on hold a plan to lay off about 5,000 support employees and replace some of their work with AI-powered phone and web agents, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
- Apple now routes U.S. and Canadian callers to 1-800-APL-CARE to a generative-AI support assistant that provides troubleshooting steps and transfers unresolved cases to human advisors.
- Apple lays off some middle-management employees in recent weeks, including roughly six directors.