The framing of these layoffs as "AI-driven efficiency" is worth examining through the lens of Goodhart's Law. Once "AI productivity" becomes the stated metric, it stops being a useful measure.

Block's financials tell a more nuanced story: double-digit gross profit growth, strong forward guidance. This isn't a company in distress - it's a company that overhired during ZIRP and is now using the AI narrative as cover for normalization.

The real concern is the second-order effect: when profitable companies lay off 10%+ and frame it as AI, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where every company feels pressure to do the same regardless of whether AI actually changed their productivity. We're watching a coordination game play out in real time.