More than 200 economists, AI researchers and technology executives, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, issued a joint appeal urging governments to prepare for economic disruption from advanced AI, warning policymakers are moving too slowly. The statement, titled "We Must Act Now: A Statement on AI's Transformation of the Economy" and coordinated by the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, argues AI could become significantly more capable over the next decade, triggering economic changes exceeding the Industrial Revolution but within a shorter period. While acknowledging AI's potential to improve productivity, the statement warns of widespread job displacement without appropriate policies. It calls on economists, policymakers and technology companies to establish incentives, regulatory guardrails and institutions ensuring AI complements workers. The appeal comes amid debate over AI's effect on employment; earlier this year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned AI could eliminate as many as half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. Recent industry trends include workforce reductions at Amazon, Atlassian, Block, Fiverr, Meta, Pinterest and Snap while increasing AI investments. A report estimated AI-related automation contributed to approximately 50,000 job losses in 2025. A survey found nearly all of the 12,000 executives polled expect AI to reduce the number of employees their organisations require.