{"id":665993,"date":"2026-03-19T04:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/665993\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T04:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:08:09","slug":"sam-altmans-thank-you-to-coders-draws-the-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/665993\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Altman’s thank-you to coders draws the memes"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you need a cathartic release from the news that Amazon laid off 16,000 workers<\/a>, Block chopped<\/a> nearly half its workforce, Atlassian pared back 10%<\/a> of staffers, and Meta is reportedly considering another massive round of layoffs<\/a>, all in the name of AI, then we invite you to browse the responses to a recent Sam Altman post on X.<\/p>\n

Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, shared this on Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character. It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took. Thank you for getting us to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I have so much gratitude to people who wrote extremely complex software character-by-character. It already feels difficult to remember how much effort it really took.<\/p>\n

Thank you for getting us to this point.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sam Altman (@sama) March 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem with that sweet sentiment is that Altman\u2019s company ushered in the AI now being used as an excuse for developer layoffs and fewer junior developer jobs<\/a>. And it did so by training on massive volumes of code written the old-fashioned way \u2014 by the very people he\u2019s now thanking.<\/p>\n

His post implies that developers\u2019 genuinely difficult-to-master craft is now like a rotary telephone: outdated and unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Naturally, Altman\u2019s comments attracted memes and responses richer than his post. While some were straight-up angry<\/a>, (\u201cYou\u2019re welcome. Nice to know that our reward is our jobs being taken away\u201d), much of the internet did what it always does: cracked jokes.<\/p>\n

There are thousands of comments. Some of our favorites:<\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cSam\u2019s eulogy<\/a> for software engineers\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s times like this when I really<\/a> miss the Sam Altman parody account\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDear devs You will lose your jobs forever<\/a> and be forced to work in the coal mines But you can rest easy knowing sam Altman is grateful. \u2764\ufe0f \ud83d\ude4f\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBillion dollar app idea<\/a>: AI that reads billionaire tweets before they post them and says \u2018this is going to make you sound incredibly out of touch, are you sure?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have gratitude to OpenAI<\/a> for doing all the AI work so I can have free Chinese open source AI models to use \ud83d\ude4f\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reads like something<\/a> the Mayans would say right before the ceremony starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, another reason to trot out this meme:<\/p>\n