In today’s news and commentary, Block lays off over 4,000 workers, and new data on H-1B fees comes to light. 

On Friday, the CEO of financial technology company Block announced that the firm was laying off more than 4,000 employees, close to 40% of its workforce. Citing gains from artificial intelligence, affected employee roles were deemed superfluous when compared to cheaper and more efficient AI tools. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Jack Dorsey stated, “Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company . . . A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.” Shares of the company rose more than 20% in premarket trading following the news. 

On Thursday, a government attorney revealed that only about 70 employers have paid the $100,000 “Trump fee” on foreign workers seeking employment under the H-1B program. The information was disclosed in a court hearing regarding the validity of the fee and, given the small number of businesses who have paid, may undermine arguments that the fee is a revenue-raising measure that requires Congressional approval. In response to this argument raised by the government, counsel for the plaintiffs said that the Supreme Court has “abandoned distinctions between regulatory and revenue raising taxes.” Litigation challenging the fee continues in the Northern District of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.