Top economist says companies are close to a ‘Cortés moment’ on AI, referencing the conquistador who burned his boats and then invaded Mexico

American companies are approaching what one top economist is calling a “Cortés moment” on artificial intelligence—a point of irreversible commitment that could reshape the U.S. labor market in ways not yet visible in the data, but coming fast.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, invoked the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés—who burned his boats upon arriving in Mexico in 1519, eliminating any possibility of retreat—to describe the posture he believes corporate America is quietly assuming toward AI adoption. Companies are investing heavily, making structural bets, and cutting off their own escape routes. Whether that leads to conquest or catastrophe, Zandi suggests, may depend on timing. The analogy crystallized for Zandi after fintech company Block announced it was slashing its workforce by 40%.

“Businesses appear to be nearing a Cortés moment with artificial intelligence,” Zandi wrote on LinkedIn. “That’s my takeaway from fintech company Block’s move to slash its workforce by 40%. While Block didn’t explicitly pin the cuts on AI, it all but did.”

Zandi acknowledged the possibility that AI could be serving as a convenient cover story. “Of course, AI could be a smoke screen for other, less flattering reasons for the cuts,” he wrote, “but I suspect not.” And even if it were, he argued, the effect on the...