Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer, Judson Althoff, said this week that the company saved over $500 million in its call center operations last year thanks to artificial intelligence.

Althoff highlighted that AI tools are driving productivity gains across sales, customer service, and software engineering, Bloomberg reported.

The internal remarks come just days after Microsoft laid off more than 9,000 employees in its third major round of job cuts this year, bringing the total number of affected workers to around 15,000. The layoffs have sparked criticism, especially as Microsoft posts record profits and invests aggressively in AI.

Some see Althoff’s statements as tone-deaf, given the timing. The tension was further inflamed by a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Xbox Game Studios producer Matt Turnbull, who suggested that laid-off employees could turn to AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to help them cope with the mental strain of job loss.

While Microsoft hasn’t explicitly linked AI adoption to the layoffs, the timing has raised questions about whether the company is replacing human workers with automation or simply adjusting its workforce after the pandemic hiring boom. Either way, the optics are complicated.

Microsoft ended its most recent quarter with $70 billion in revenue and $26 billion in profit, and its market capitalization has risen to $3.74 trillion, overtaking Apple and trailing only Nvidia. In January, the company announced plans to invest $80 billion into AI infrastructure in 2025.

While Microsoft continues to hire in AI, the company appears focused on securing top-tier research talent. With millions being spent on elite AI scientists, middle managers and rank-and-file employees may see fewer opportunities—fueling concerns that Microsoft’s AI ambitions are coming at a human cost.