New Delhi: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, at a technology conference in Paris in June, said that artificial intelligence is not a threat because it will create more jobs for humans rather than replace them.
Speaking at the VivaTech 2026, Bezos weighed in on the ongoing debate around AI and its possible labour shortages. He argued that AI will boost human creativity. Giving the example of his latest venture, Prometheus, an AI startup, which aims to build an “artificial general engineer”, Bezos argued that the project speeds up innovation and creates new industries, ultimately leading to a labour shortage rather than mass unemployment.
“AI is going to create a labour shortage because it’s going to make it possible for people to identify more problems,” he said.
He added that the technology will help bring to life ideas previously considered impossible.
“If we can accelerate the dream-build loop, all of the ideas will then become possible. And then we end up being limited not by our capabilities but by our imaginations,” the 62-year-old said during a session moderated by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino. Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp was also part of the panel.
The cost of AI advancement
Bezos also said that in order for AI to reach that potential, certain resources must be allocated and prioritised for the technology rather than for human consumption.
AI data centres’ use of large quantities of water has been a point of contention and concern for many people around the world. But Bezos argued that “we have to look at the macro-picture of our planet’s future.”
“Biological limits are real, but digital potential is infinite. If we starve our data infrastructure of cooling resources just to sustain baseline human comfort, we are actively delaying the birth of a super-intelligence that could solve all of our resource problems in the first place.
Sometimes you have to prioritise the intelligence that will save us over the biology that slows us down,” he added.
Bezos’s remarks have reignited the debate on the sustainability of AI and its cost to human life.
While some argue that the comment represents a pragmatic view of the technology, others say that it shows how the world has descended into a dystopia.
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One small step for Bezos, one large leap for mankind
At Europe’s largest tech expo, the American businessman went on to outline his plans for a lunar base.
Bezos described his vision for space exploration as “supply constrained, not demand constrained.”
He said that the Moon would be a natural starting point thanks to its proximity and resources.
“We’re going to the Moon to stay, not just to visit,” Bezos said. He argued that
Materials lifted from the lunar surface require 28 times less energy than those launched from Earth, making the satellite a potential supplier for deeper space missions.
He went on to say that further expansions would follow, including a colony on Mars.
“We will build colonies on Mars and so on. The moon is an important first step.”
According to Bezos, this expansion into space exploration is necessary for economic growth and environmental preservation to coexist.
“(Our) garden planet can be returned to its pre-industrial revolution state,” Bezos said.