How to Survive the AI Labor Crash That’s Already Accelerating

Editor’s Note: The best investment opportunities often come out of big changes – especially when most people aren’t paying attention yet.

My friend and colleague Luke Lango points to one of the biggest changes we’ve seen – AI. Most of the attention from it focuses on what it means for tech stocks, but Luke is looking at something bigger – how it’s reshaping the economy and the job market, and what it means for all of us.

To do that, he put together a special presentation explaining what makes this opportunity different, why it matters for investors and the steps you can take now to stay ahead.

You can watch his special briefing right here, where he breaks down the specific companies he believes are best positioned to benefit – including one he names for free.

Here’s Luke with more…

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In 1811, as England’s Industrial Revolution was gaining momentum, a group of textile workers decided to fight back.

Led by the mythical “General Ludd” of Sherwood Forest, what began as a concentrated movement in central England quickly spread across the nation. Traditional workers took hammers to the stocking frames and power looms – the machines erasing their jobs, their wages, and centuries of hard-won craft.

They weren’t irrational or anti-progress. They were simply watching their livelihoods evaporate in real time, and they understood that no one was coming to help them.

And it took generations of political struggle to rebuild something resembling dignity for working people.

Right now, a similar story is unfolding. This time, AI is the existential threat. 

While investors are worrying about if Big Tech is spending too much on AI, the ground beneath our feet – the very foundation of how we earn a living – is turning into quicksand.

The biggest risk we face isn’t a bear market or even a crash in the Nasdaq.

It’s the permanent devaluation of human labor…

The Iceberg Index: The Truth About AI Job Loss in America

The latest research shows just how far this displacement has already advanced beneath the surface.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, recently released what it calls the “Iceberg Index” – and it’s terrifyingly blunt.

The study’s models suggest that roughly 12% of existing U.S. jobs could be replaced by AI right now.

That’s 1 in 9 people whose economic output can be matched by a software subscription that doesn’t need health insurance and doesn’t take bathroom breaks.

We aren’t even talking about what happens when the AI further matures.

When an AI agent can not only write the email but also plan the project and execute the code migration without human intervention, the need for human “managers” in the middle evaporates.

We are already seeing the results…

• HP Inc. (HPQ) just announced it is cutting up to 6,000 jobs by 2028 to “fund AI investment.”
• United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) cut 12,000 corporate roles earlier this year, explicitly stating that automation means those jobs aren’t coming back.
• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is undergoing its biggest corporate layoff ever.

This isn’t recessionary. This is a capital pivot. Companies are trading variable-cost, high-maintenance human workers for fixed-cost, exponentially improving silicon ones.

AI Is Breaking the Link Between Productivity and Wages

For the last century, as technology improved, productivity went up. As productivity went up, wages did, too. A rising tide lifted all boats, even if some boats were lifted higher than others.

But AI is breaking that link.

When a company deploys an AI system that allows it to double its output without hiring a single new employee, where does that extra value go?

It does not go to the remaining workers. It goes to the company’s bottom line, and then to dividends, buybacks, and a higher share price.

And that doesn’t even take an economic downturn into account.

Right now, we have historically low unemployment (around 4%). The economy is showing cracks but is still fairly stable. And yet, companies are aggressively automating.

Imagine what happens in a recession.

Economists call it the “cleansing effect.” When revenue dips, companies are forced to cut costs and jobs mercilessly.

The recession will be the accelerant. The recovery will be jobless.

Workers Must Shift From Labor to Capital to Survive the AI Era

So, if the value of labor is crashing and the value of capital is skyrocketing, the solution is uncomfortably simple.

You need to stop thinking like a laborer and start thinking like a capitalist.

This brings us to the “stock bubble.” You might be worried that Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) is overpriced at its current valuation. Fair enough.

But if you have zero exposure to the companies building the infrastructure of the future, you are betting your entire financial existence on your ability to outwork software that doubles in ability every 18 months.

That is a terrible bet.

The only true hedge against the devaluation of your labor is to own stock in the companies that are benefiting from labor devaluation. You need to be on the receiving end of that wealth transfer.

If the AI boom continues, these companies will generate unprecedented cash flows. If the “AI bubble” pops, the tech doesn’t go away. It just gets cheaper for companies to deploy, accelerating the labor displacement even faster.

In either scenario, capital wins.

How to Protect Yourself From AI Job Loss: A Two-Part Strategy

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Great advice. I’ll just take this spare $3 million and buy a diversified portfolio of AI infrastructure stocks so I can live off the dividends when my job is automated.”

Indeed, replacing an entire salary with capital returns requires a massive amount of money that most of us simply don’t have.

So, you need a two-part “barbell strategy” for survival.

Immediate Financial Exposure: You cannot afford to sit this market out because it’s “frothy.” You need exposure to the picks and shovels of this gold rush – the chip designers, hyperscale cloud providers, foundational model companies, etc.

Become ‘Human Capital’: Until you have enough capital to retire, your labor is still your primary asset. You have to upgrade it.

The labor market is bifurcating into two categories: commodity labor versus agency labor.

You need to be the latter. Stop writing copy. Start orchestrating the brand voice that AI brings to life.

The people who will thrive in the transition period aren’t just the ones owning Nvidia stock. They are the ones who can walk into a panicked C-suite and say: “I can replace your inefficient 20-person department with myself, three sharp lieutenants, and a fleet of AI agents – and save you 40%.”

Wield AI as a weapon for your own advancement.

The Labor Market Is Approaching a Breaking Point

Exponential curves look flat for a long time … and then, suddenly, they go vertical. 

We are right at the knee of that curve. The window to prepare is closing faster than most think.

It’s best to stop agonizing about whether we are in a 2000s-style stock bubble. A stock market crash hurts your portfolio temporarily. A structural shift in the value of human labor hurts your family permanently.

As automation accelerates and data centers explode in size, the U.S. is quietly executing what many insiders are calling a modern “Manhattan Project for AI.”

And Washington isn’t just funding this initiative. It’s partnering directly with select American companies it views as essential to winning the AI race – and those stocks are erupting.

This year alone, several smaller U.S. firms surged 200%… 300%… even 400% in a matter of days after government investment or contract news broke.

These aren’t hype-driven rallies. They’re the early winners of America’s AI buildout – the companies being positioned at the center of a multiyear national transformation.

And while millions of workers brace for AI-driven disruption, investors who understand where Washington is placing its strategic bets could be on the receiving end of one of the last great wealth transfers of our lifetime.

That’s why I’ve been working on something urgent, which you can now see for yourself.

I’ve identified a handful of overlooked American companies that I believe are next in line for government backing – and each has the potential to soar 10X as this new AI buildout accelerates.

I reveal the first one – 100% free – in my new briefing.

Click here to learn how to position yourself before the next government-backed breakout.

Consider it the first plate on your barbell.

Regards,

Luke Lango

Editor, Early Stage Investor