OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC-TV18 that some employers attribute layoffs to AI’s labor effects even when the job cuts would have occurred regardless, describing the practice as “AI washing.” Altman said it’s unclear the percentage of such cases, but he expects both real displacement and new role creation. The discussion follows mixed labor-market findings, including a National Bureau of Economic Research study reporting that most surveyed executives did not observe workplace employment impact tied to ChatGPT’s release in the preceding years. At the same time, other tech leaders have warned of large-scale job elimination in entry-level roles. For higher education leaders advising students on career planning, the signal is operational: employers may be using AI narratives to manage messaging, while students face shifting recruiting and role definitions across departments. Institutions may need to update career services communications, improve transparency about skill demand, and help students differentiate between task-level automation and longer-term employability pathways.