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Block CEO Jack Dorsey Lays Off 40% of Staff to Rebuild Company 'as an Intelligence'

Canopy Business
Jack Dorsey Block CEO interview on Wired explaining 40 percent layoffs to rebuild company as an AI intelligence

Block CEO Jack Dorsey told Wired in an exclusive interview on March 6, 2026 that he axed 40 percent of the company's workforce so he could rebuild Block — the payments and financial services firm behind Square, Cash App, and Tidal — as an intelligence-first organization he describes as wanting to "feel like a mini AGI." Dorsey said he wants Block to operate with dramatically fewer people but much greater AI-assisted output per person, accelerating the company's move toward AI-native operations across its product and engineering teams. The layoffs represent one of the largest percentage cuts at a major fintech company in 2026 and mark an inflection point in how tech CEOs are publicly framing AI-driven workforce reduction.

Key Takeaways

  • Block laid off 40% of its workforce — affecting Square, Cash App, and Tidal product and engineering teams — announced via a Wired interview with CEO Jack Dorsey on March 6, 2026
  • Dorsey's stated rationale: rebuild Block 'as an intelligence' that 'feels like a mini AGI' — openly frames AI as replacing headcount rather than augmenting it
  • Most explicit CEO-level framing of AI-driven layoffs as a strategic rebuild rather than a cost cut; will be closely watched as a precedent by enterprise engineering and product teams

Original source: Wired