Apple Reportedly Planned to Replace 5,000 Support Employees With AI

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple considered laying off about 5,000 support employees, expecting AI-powered phone and web agents to take over some of their duties, but has put the plans on hold indefinitely. Calls to AppleCare in the U.S. and Canada are already handled by a generative AI assistant that can transfer users to a human advisor.

• Apple considered cutting about 5,000 support employees
• AI phone and web agents were to take over some duties
• The layoff plans are on hold indefinitely
• AppleCare calls in the U.S. and Canada already use an AI assistant