I don't think it's that complicated to begin with. Free money, focus on growth. Not free money and looking recession, cut cut cut. AI is a convinent buzzword to keep shareholders happy, no matter how much you actually invest in it.

I don't think it was a grand conspiracy. Executives are just panicking and don't have much more of a clue than the workers. It's just too bad they could weather the storm regardless while people relying on paychecks suffer consequences.