HomeSam Altman's Gratitude to Developers Sparks Meme Frenzy
If you're looking for a cathartic release after hearing about Amazon's 16,000 layoffs, Block cutting nearly half its workforce, Atlassian trimming 10%, and Meta's rumored new round of job cuts—all in the name of AI—then look no further than the replies to a recent Sam Altman post on X.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, shared this on Tuesday:
“I am deeply grateful to the people who wrote incredibly complex software, character by character. It's already hard to recall just how much effort that truly required. Thank you for bringing us to where we are today.” Altman shared on Tuesday.
I have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character. It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took.
Thank you for getting us to this point.
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 17, 2026
The irony of this heartfelt sentiment is that Altman's own company pioneered the AI now cited as a reason for developer layoffs and fewer entry-level coding jobs. It achieved this by training on vast quantities of code written the traditional way—by the very individuals he is now thanking.
His post suggests that the developers' genuinely hard-won craft is now akin to a rotary phone: obsolete and no longer needed.
Unsurprisingly, Altman's comments drew memes and responses far more nuanced than his original post. While some expressed outright anger (“You're welcome. Glad to know our reward is having our jobs eliminated”), much of the internet did what it does best: it turned to humor.
There are thousands of comments. Here are a few of our favorites:
pic.twitter.com/YLn5U8Fqx5
— orvelis (@orvelis_io) March 17, 2026
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If you're looking for a cathartic release after hearing about Amazon's 16,000 layoffs, Block cutting nearly half its workforce, Atlassian trimming 10%, and Meta's rumored new round of job cuts—all in the name of AI—then look no further than the replies to a recent Sam Altman post on X.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, shared this on Tuesday:
“I am deeply grateful to the people who wrote incredibly complex software, character by character. It's already hard to recall just how much effort that truly required. Thank you for bringing us to where we are today.” Altman shared on Tuesday.
I have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character. It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took.
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 17, 2026
Thank you for getting us to this point.
The irony of this heartfelt sentiment is that Altman's own company pioneered the AI now cited as a reason for developer layoffs and fewer entry-level coding jobs. It achieved this by training on vast quantities of code written the traditional way—by the very individuals he is now thanking.
His post suggests that the developers' genuinely hard-won craft is now akin to a rotary phone: obsolete and no longer needed.
Unsurprisingly, Altman's comments drew memes and responses far more nuanced than his original post. While some expressed outright anger (“You're welcome. Glad to know our reward is having our jobs eliminated”), much of the internet did what it does best: it turned to humor.
There are thousands of comments. Here are a few of our favorites:
pic.twitter.com/YLn5U8Fqx5
— orvelis (@orvelis_io) March 17, 2026
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