BANGKOK (AP) — Shares in the financial technology company Block soared more than 20% in premarket trading Friday after its CEO announced it was laying off more than 4,000 of its 10,000 plus employees, reconfiguring to capitalize on its use of artificial intelligence.
“The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” Jack Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders in Block, the parent company to online payment platforms such as Square and Cash App. “A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better,” he said.
Dorsey's comments explicitly naming AI as a key driver behind the move were also posted on X, or Twitter, a company he co-founded. The assertion that the job cuts will add to Block's profitability and efficiency led investors to jump in and buy, analysts said.
Block’s shares gained 5% Thursday to $54.53, before it reported its earnings. They shot up to nearly $69 in after-hours trading. The mobile payments services provider reported its fourth quarter gross profit jumped 24% from a year earlier.
“For years, we have debated whether AI would dent jobs at the margin. Now we have a public case study in which the CEO explicitly says that intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
“Other large employers have announced tens of thousands of cuts in recent months. Some have downplayed the AI link. Block did not,” he said.
A global technology company founded in 2009, San Francisco-based Block operates in the United States, Canada, parts of Europe, Australia and Japan.
In a post on Twitter, Dorsey outlined various ways the company will support those laid off. For employees overseas, the terms might differ, he said.
It was unclear which employees would be laid off where.
Layoffs by American companies remain at relatively healthy levels, but the job cuts at Block are the latest among thousands announced in recent months.
A number of other high-profile companies have announced layoffs recently, including UPS, Amazon, Dow and the Washington Post.
File- This photo taken Nov. 19, 2015, shows Square CEO Jack Dorsey being interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 27, 2026--
LTK, the company that turned influence into a global economy, today announced the launch of LTK AI: a chatbot built directly into the LTK consumer app for personalized discovery, powered by real creator content and trusted recommendations.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260227542191/en/
LTK AI adds a conversational layer to the LTK experience designed to help users discover what to wear, style, pack, gift, or try next based on real-world context and creator guidance. It delivers authentic and personalized recommendations for whatever consumers are looking for.
Instead of generating one-size-fits all search results, LTK AI surfaces real posts, outfits, routines, recipes, reviews, styling moments, and more from hundreds of thousands of verified creators - that millions of people already follow and trust inside the LTK app.
Built for Trusted Creator Recommendations
Today, discovering products through creators is no longer a trend - it’s the norm. Trust in creators is at an all-time high, up 21% year-over-year and 86% of Gen Z relying on creator recommendations to drive purchase decisions.
As the social app built for trusted recommendations across everything you’re into, the new LTK AI assistant is trained on over a decade of content from verified creators sharing what they actually wear, use, style, gift, and recommend. It reflects the trusted ecosystem millions of consumers already engage with on LTK.
Because the best recommendations come from real people and real content.
LTK AI is now available in the LTK app. Users can download or update the LTK app in the App Store to experience personalized discovery powered by real people, real content, and real recommendations.
About LTK
LTK is the global creator commerce platform that turned creator influence into a worldwide economy. Founded in 2011 by Amber Venz Box and Baxter Box, LTK is a three-sided marketplace with dedicated platforms for creators, brands, and consumers.
LTK empowers creators to retain, nurture and grow direct relationships with their audiences through their LTK profiles, creating lasting businesses. For brands, LTK is a full-funnel, performance channel that scales globally, and turns creators into a retailer’s tech-enabled power partner. Today, LTK powers $6B in annual retail sales, supports 60,000 creator-brand collaborations each year, has 8,000 retailers actively investing in creators, and is used by more than 44M monthly users. LTK’s mission to empower creator success has led to nearly $3B invested in creators and helped nearly 400 women become self-made millionaires.
Headquartered in Dallas, TX, LTK operates across five continents. Download the LTK app in the App Store or Google Play. For updates, follow @ltk.hq on Instagram and @shopltk on X and LTK on LinkedIn.
Introducing LTK AI: The Chatbot Powered by Trusted Creator Recommendations
