Apple drew up and then shelved a plan to replace about 5,000 AppleCare staff with AI agents, Bloomberg reported

Apple considered laying off about 5,000 support employees and handing part of their work to AI-powered phone and web agents, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, according to MacRumors on 29 September. The plan has been shelved with no timeline, and Apple is not currently looking to take that step, MacRumors reported, relaying Gurman.

Business Today, also citing the Bloomberg report, wrote on 30 September that the planned workforce reduction had been put on hold, and that Apple could return to it if its AI support tools improve. The two outlets word the number differently: MacRumors says about 5,000, Business Today more than 5,000. This story uses MacRumors' figure.

The AI itself has not been withdrawn. Apple's AppleCare phone line now sends callers in the United States and Canada to a generative AI assistant first, MacRumors reported. The assistant walks callers through troubleshooting and can pass them to a human adviser. MacRumors also reported, citing the same Bloomberg report, that about half a dozen middle-management directors were laid off recently.

The report fits a wider pattern of companies testing how far AI agents can replace front-line support work; here, a cut of this size was drafted and then pulled back. Neither outlet carries a statement from Apple or gives Bloomberg's reason for the pause, and Bloomberg's original could not be found from here.

• Reported Apple considered laying off about 5,000 support employees and shelved the plan indefinitely, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, according to MacRumors. MacRumors
• Reported The workforce reduction has been put on hold, according to the Bloomberg report as cited by Business Today. Business Today
• Reported AppleCare's phone line now routes US and Canadian callers to a generative AI assistant that can hand them to a human, MacRumors reported. MacRumors