Jeff Bezos Predicts AI Could Enable a Three-Day Workweek

Artificial intelligence could eventually allow some people to support their families by working just three days a week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told Fox News. The prediction reflects his view that rising productivity from AI could give workers greater flexibility while creating new opportunities across the economy.

Bezos also warned that productivity gains could produce a labor shortage if people choose to work fewer days. His remarks add to growing predictions from technology executives about how AI could reshape employment and the traditional workweek.

Bezos described a shorter schedule as one possible outcome of increased economic productivity rather than a change that would necessarily affect every worker.

"Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family working three days a week. That's what productivity in the economy means."

Bezos has also argued that AI could expand access to careers that currently require specialized technical skills. He highlighted the work of Prometheus, an AI startup he co-founded and where he serves as co-CEO.

"We're going to make the tools so easy to use that anyone will be able to be an engineer," Bezos said.

His prediction suggests that more accessible AI tools could enable people without traditional engineering backgrounds to pursue technical work. However, the extent to which these changes will affect working hours remains uncertain.

Elon Musk has also predicted major changes to employment as AI and robotics advance. Last year, Musk said work could eventually become optional, reflecting a broader debate among technology leaders about automation and the future of jobs.

In April, OpenAI released a 13-page document proposing measures to distribute the economic benefits of AI more widely. The proposals included a public wealth fund that would give people a stake in economic growth generated by AI, along with a 32-hour workweek paid at the equivalent of a 40-hour schedule.

The document presented these ideas as preliminary proposals rather than a finalized policy framework.

"These ideas are ambitious, but intentionally early and exploratory," the document reads. "We offer them not as a comprehensive or final set of recommendations, but as a starting point for discussion."

Bezos's three-day workweek prediction would mean an even shorter schedule than the 32-hour week proposed by OpenAI. Both ideas depend on whether productivity gains translate into reduced working hours and broader economic benefits for employees.

Despite the potential appeal of shorter schedules for people holding multiple jobs or feeling overworked, employers would need to permit such arrangements for workers to benefit. The source article noted no indication that employers were broadly prepared to make that change.