It's been a rough week at Microsoft.Following the news that 9,000 people are being laid off at the company, one Xbox executive offered some questionable words of advice for people on their way out: Find solace in Microsoft Copilot.As reported by , Matt Turnbull, an executive producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing who clearly did not lose his job recently, took to LinkedIn to let folks know, "You're not alone and you don't have to go it alone." In the same breath as acknowledging that AI evokes "strong feelings in people," Turnbull suggested that LLMs like ChatGPT and Copilot could "help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss."Turnbull went on to provide specific AI prompts that he recommended for recently laid-off people, including, "Write a warm intro message for reaching out to someone at [studio name] about a job posting." He explained how an LLM could aid overwhelmed developers in planning their careers and punching up their resumés, and also help with "emotional clarity and confidence."The post was circulated on Bluesky by Necrosoft Games director and Insert Credit host Brandon Sheffield, where it received a predictably negative reaction.According to ,LinkedIn users were similarly unimpressed.
Turnbull deleted the post a few hours later.Here's the full text from the LinkedIn post:ExpandTurnbull's post, however earnest, comes at a time when Microsoft is seemingly all-in on both AI and layoffs.The 9,000 job losses this week add to over 6,000 announced in May.
Microsoft President Brad Smith began 2025 by committing to spend around $80 billion on AI infrastructure through the year, and CEO Satya Nadella recently shared that a large portion of his company's code is now authored by AI.Just last week, reported on another executive telling employees that using Copilot is "no longer optional" in an internal memo.One developer at Halo Studios, which was affected by the layoffs, told Engadget's Jessica Conditt that they felt Xbox leadership was looking to "replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents."If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
