An Australian tech company announced it would be replacing 150 employees with new artificial intelligence technology, Sky News reported.
Atlassian staffers received a prerecorded video from CEO and co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes announcing the change. They then had to wait 15 minutes to find out if they were being let go, Sky News said.
Cannon-Brookes came under fire in March when he purchased a private jet despite his climate advocacy. He said the plane would allow him to be a present dad.
"I'm not denying I have a deep internal conflict on this," Cannon-Brookes wrote on LinkedIn. "There's a couple of reasons I've purchased a plane. Personal security is the primary reason (an unfortunate reality of my world), but also so I can run a global business from Australia and still be a constantly present dad."
On the same day the layoffs were announced, Atlassian's other co-founder Scott Farquhar praised the benefits of AI at a National Press Club of Australia appearance, Sky News said.
"Firstly, most people don't think about where their water or power comes from, and people don't think about where AI comes from or where the AI they use on their phone comes from every day," Farquhar said.
Farquhar said AI will cause some parts of the economy to grow significantly, while other parts of the economy will shrink.
A company spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald that Atlassian had made investments over the last two years aimed at improving customer experience with AI.
"For us to be successful, two things have to be true: Our customers must be successful, and our business has to be fortified to succeed within the extremely fast industry that we're in," the company said. "Our value of 'Build with Heart and Balance' is about making the hard, right decisions with passion, empathy, and care."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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