Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has sparked outrage after replacing 150 jobs with artificial intelligence in a pre-recorded video.
Impacted staff received a video from Mr Cannon-Brookes on Wednesday morning explaining that most of their jobs would soon be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
In the video Mr Cannon-Brookes stopped short of naming who was leaving, forcing staff to wait 15 minutes for an email about their fate.
Staff impacted had their laptops blocked, but are expected to be paid for the next six months.
It comes just hours after the Commonwealth Bank confirmed it would cut 45 call centre jobs after rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to deal with customer inquiries.
As redundancies rolled out at Atlassian, its other co-founder Scott Farquhar was publicly praising the benefits of AI during a National Press Club of Australia address.
‘Firstly, most people don’t think about where their water or power comes from and people don’t think about where AI comes from or where the AI they use on their phone comes from every day,’ he said.
‘There is a huge boom in creating data centres for the region and, beyond that, there is a huge boom in using AI for everyday life.
Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes axed 150 jobs this week – not with a meeting or a call, but with a pre-recorded video
The billionaire, who once urged Australians to eat insects to save the planet from climate change, recently dropped $80million on a private jet – one that emits as much carbon in an hour as the average person does in a year
‘Every person should be using AI daily for as many things as they can,’ Mr Farquhar said.
‘Like any new technology, it will feel awkward to start with, but every business person, every business leader, every government leader and every bureaucrat should be using it.’
Mr Cannon-Brookes came under fire earlier this year after he purchased a Bombardier 7500 jet, which is valued between $75million and $80million, despite being an avid climate change campaigner.
Mr Cannon-Brookes admitted he had a ‘deep internal conflict’ about purchasing the plane, but decided on it anyway for several reasons.
‘There’s a couple of reasons I’ve purchased a plane. Personal security is the primary reason … but also so I can run a global business from Australia, and still be a constantly present dad,’ he said.
‘So, this is a hard, continual trade-off I’ve decided to make.’
A single private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in an hour as the average person does in an entire year, with private flights 14 times more polluting (per passenger) than a commercial plane.
He previously warned the world needs to change its eating habits by adding insects to its daily diet if the planet is to feed a global population of eight billion.
Co-founder of Atlassian Scott Farquhar at the National Press Club in Canberra
Mike Cannon-Brookes looked tense as he watched his co-founder spoke about the benefits of AI
‘Insects are a huge part of a sustainable future,’ he said.
‘I’m a big fan of cricket flour and insect eating in general. The logic totally stacks up – Low planet footprint, high protein, sustainable etc.
‘Always looking for interesting opportunities in that space!’
Mr Cannon-Brookes believes Australia could be the ‘Saudi Arabia of renewable electricity’ if the political will was there.
He added: ‘We could power the entire world five times over from the Australian sun that we have.
‘It’s a good measure of how large our country is, and how much great sun we have. We have a country almost designed to benefit most from the renewable boom.
‘And we have 3 billion consumers nearby who can take our sunlight when we ship it up to Asia. We absolutely can be a renewable energy superpower.’
