--- title: "Sam Altman Thanks Programmers for Their Effort, Says Their Time Is Over" description: "Sam Altman argued it was \"already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took\" for coders to write software." date: "2026-03-17" modified: "2026-03-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-thanks-programmers-over" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "OpenAI" --- # Sam Altman Thanks Programmers for Their Effort, Says Their Time Is Over ![Sam Altman argued it was "already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took" for coders to write software.]() *Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images* Thousands of tech workers are being laid off, from Atlassian [slashing 1,600 jobs]() to Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block [firing almost half its workforce](). Meta's latest round of layoffs [is rumored]() to affect an astonishing 20 percent or more of the company. A common thread among these devastating cuts is industry leaders touting the capabilities of AI, claiming that the tech has made the workers who find themselves on the chopping block redundant. Whether those claims align with reality, or whether the layoffs are [actually the result of corporate bloat and pandemic-era overhiring](), is a topic of much debate. In a [Tuesday tweet]() that can only be described as twisting the knife, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that "I have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character." "It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took," he added. "Thank you for getting us to this point." It's a particularly tone-deaf and borderline vindictive missive that suggests Altman has long given up on the idea of fairly compensating content creators and coders for their work. It's no secret that OpenAI's AI models were trained on data that was [shamelessly scraped from the web](), a controversial practice that has triggered a litany of [copyright infringement lawsuits](). Altman's remarks drew an overwhelmingly negative reaction. "You're welcome," one user [responded](). "Nice to know that our reward is our jobs being taken away." Others called him a "[f\*\*\*ing psychopath]()" and "[scum]()." "Nothing says 'you're being replaced' quite like a heartfelt thank you from the guy doing the replacing," one user [wrote](). The news comes as OpenAI desperately tries to keep up with the competition in an increasingly crowded enterprise and code-facing AI software landscape. On Monday, the [*Wall Street Journal* reported]() that executives had started ringing the alarm bells, calling for the company to double down on coding and enterprise customers. "We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests," OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees in a memo, as quoted by the *WSJ*. "We really have to nail productivity in general and particularly productivity on the business front." Meanwhile, OpenAI's competitor Anthropic has made major strides, with its Claude Code and Cowork chatbots triggering a [trillion-dollar selloff last month]() over concerns that AI could make legacy enterprise software a thing of the past. In short, it's difficult not to read Altman's latest tweet as a sleight, [directly capitalizing on widespread fears]() of an [AI jobs apocalypse]() to tout the capabilities of his company's offerings. **More on OpenAI:** [*Panicked OpenAI Execs Cutting Projects as Walls Close In*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()