AI startup Anthropic, backed by Jeff Bezos, warns that white collar jobs could be widely automated within five years. On Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast, Anthropic researchers Sholto Douglas and Trenton Bricken predicted that widespread automation of white collar jobs is likely within the next five years. Douglas said the transition could happen in as little as two years and fundamentally reshape the global economy over the next decade. Douglas said current AI models are already capable of automating many white collar tasks if provided with the right data, even without further algorithmic progress. They said automating office tasks is economically justified despite high effort, warning that unprepared countries could face serious consequences.