A bitter AI layoff saga at Australian software company WiseTech took a disturbing turn when its CEO, Zubin Appoo, received a threatening letter. According to the Financial Review, it included personal details and offensive comments about his family.
Futurism reported that WiseTech announced in February that it would cut about 2,000 jobs — roughly a third of its workforce — as leadership touted AI-driven "efficiency gains." Since then, workers have reportedly been left in limbo, uncertain whether their roles would survive.
In an email to staff reported by the Financial Review, founder Richard White said the company had faced several incidents involving personal attacks. The most recent escalation happened when someone sent Appoo "a handwritten threat of violence." White said police were notified, and security at WiseTech's Sydney office was tightened.
The anger from employees stems from the way the company handled the layoffs.
The Financial Review stated that employees received an email one morning that WiseTech's IT administrator ended up deleting from their inboxes. That email and another one later in the day asked for employees' personal emails and gave them very little time to do so.
Executives are using AI as a cost-cutting strategy, and workers are often left carrying the risk.
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One employee summed up the mood to the Guardian, saying, "People are being told to keep delivering as usual, while also helping roll out the AI tools that are supposedly meant to replace them."
White recently said, according to the Financial Review, that AI agents could finish in minutes the sort of training people would need weeks to complete. He remarked that "it doesn't take much effort to convince people" to pay far less for AI than for labor.
The Guardian also reported that White unveiled an AI-written statement earlier this year that said, "Capacity is no longer constrained by people or time."
The WiseTech uproar also echoes the general backlash to AI-first job cuts at other companies. Meta laid off thousands of people last month as it aims to potentially invest billions more in AI this year.
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