It seems we're now at the point where companies are cutting jobs as a result of AI while claiming the layoffs have nothing to do with AI. Business software firm Intuit, maker of TurboTax, Mailchimp, and Credit Karma, appears to be walking this path. After announcing plans to lay off 3,000 people as it puts more focus and money into integrating artifical intelligence into its products, the company's CEO has insisted that "This was not about AI."

CEO Sasan Goodarzi sent an email to staff yesterday saying that the 17% staff reduction would help the firm deliver better products. Goodarzi added that the reductions would help reduce complexity at the organization by simplifying its structure and sharpening its focus on key bets, including, of course, its efforts to infuse AI across all its products.

According to its annual report, Intuit had 18,200 employees worldwide as of July 2025, that would mean almost 3,100 people are being let go.

Reuters reports that Intuit has signed multi-year agreements with Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their AI models into its software and bring the company's personalized tax, finance, accounting, and marketing capabilities to Claude and ChatGPT.

While this seems like a clear-cut example of workers being laid off to pay for AI-related investments, Goodarzi told investors during a Wednesday earnings call that the move "was not about AI."

The CEO said that over the last year, company management has examined the question, "beyond the tools that we are putting in place across the company, what is actually the biggest blocker and what is getting in our way?" One of these answers was an excess of management layers, apparently.

Goodarzi also said "coordination-heavy" roles such as project managers and business operations jobs were being cut as the remaining teams can now build products faster. Again, that kind of sounds like an AI-related reason.

Goodarzi's salary during fiscal 2025 was worth $36.8 million, including cash incentives and stock awards. Intuit has not responded to questions about whether the CEO or other executive will be taking a pay cut.

Some of those affected by the cuts have been posting their stories on LinkedIn. Several worked at the company for decades, including a productivity analyst who had been with Intuit for 25 years.

One customer experience leader who had been at Mailchimp for eight years wrote: "Mailchimp... it's ridiculous to get emotional over a piece of software, but if folks understood what this company meant to the city of Atlanta. It was our brand right alongside Coca-Cola, Delta, and The Home Depot ... it was OUR tech company," he wrote. "It was also a company willing to take a risk on folks … I'm still processing that Mailchimp and Intuit will no longer be my home. Keep an eye out for me if you don't mind."

When generative AI first started proliferating, companies were quick to assure people that it wasn't to blame for a spate of sudden mass layoffs. Today, most firms, such as Block and Meta, admit that AI adoption and spending are the main factors behind staff cuts. Intuit, in contrast, appears to be sticking with the original "It's not because of AI, honest" line – despite all signs suggesting otherwise.