Apple · Companies and people · Agents
Apple considered replacing about 5,000 AppleCare support workers with AI agents but has put the plan on hold, Bloomberg reports
Apple drew up a plan over the summer to lay off about 5,000 AppleCare support workers and hand some of their work to AI-powered phone and web agents, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported on September 29. According to the report, the plan has been put on hold indefinitely and Apple is not currently looking to take such a step. Gurman later said on Bloomberg’s Power On show that the plan is “on ice for now.” Apple declined to comment.
The report describes how John Ternus, who took over as CEO from Tim Cook on September 1, is reshaping the company to run faster and leaner. Apple has let go of some engineering program managers in its hardware group and made small cuts in several teams. Callers to AppleCare in the U.S. and Canada are already greeted by a generative AI assistant, which can transfer them to a human adviser when needed.
Sources
- MacRumors, “Apple Reportedly Planned to Replace 5,000 Support Employees With AI”, summary of the Bloomberg report (Joe Rossignol); AI assistant on the AppleCare line, (macrumors.com)
- The Next Web, “Apple’s new CEO cuts managers to ship products faster, Bloomberg reports”, summary of the Bloomberg report; Apple declined to comment, (thenextweb.com)
- Yahoo Finance, “Apple Weighed Replacing “5,000 AppleCare Employees” With AI, and More Cuts Are Coming”, Gurman's remarks on Power On, (finance.yahoo.com)
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This story in Turkish: Bloomberg’e göre Apple, yaklaşık 5.000 AppleCare destek çalışanının yerine yapay zeka ajanları koymayı düşündü ancak planı askıya aldı
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