Anthropic CEO warns AI writing code could replace software engineers within a year

​​Anthropic, DeepMind, Node.js Leaders Believe Era of Humans Writing Code is Over | AIM

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes AI is poised to take over most end-to-end programming work by 2027. The era of humans manually writing software code is coming to an end, proclaimed Ryan Dahl, the creator of JavaScript runtime Deno and Node.js. In a post on X, Dahl said that while software engineers will continue to play an important role, directly writing syntax will no longer be central to their work. "This has been said a thousand times before, but allow me to add my own voice: the era of humans writing code is over," Dahl wrote. "Disturbing for those of us who identify as SWEs, but no less true. That's not to say SWEs don't have work to do, but writing syntax directly is not it." Dahl's comments come amid rapid advances in AI tools that can generate, debug, and optimise code with minimal human input. Products such as GitHub Copilot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Anthropic's Claude Code are increasingly used by developers to automate routine programming tasks, shifting human effort toward system design, problem definition, and oversight. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, also believes that automation of software coding may be closer than many expect, with AI systems poised to take over most end-to-end programming work within the next year. Speaking at the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos, Amodei said that recent advances in AI coding tools are already changing how engineers work inside his company and could soon redefine the software industry more broadly. The session featured Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, who also spoke about the impact of AI on work and jobs. "I have engineers within Anthropic who say, 'I don't write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code. I edit it, I do the things around it,'" Amodei said. The key driver, according to Amodei, is a feedback loop in which AI systems that are good at coding and AI research are used to build the next generation of models. However, Amodei cautioned that not every part of AI development can be automated. Physical constraints such as chip manufacturing, model training time, and infrastructure still impose limits. Even so, he said it is difficult to envision a scenario where full-scale automation of coding takes significantly longer than a few years. AI is beginning to affect internships and entry-level jobs, but it could also help young people become job-ready faster, Hassabis said. He added that the shift toward fewer junior roles and greater individual leverage through AI is likely to accelerate over the next five years. Hassabis said there are early signs that AI is already affecting hiring at the bottom of the career ladder. "This year, the beginnings of maybe impacting the junior-level, entry-level kind of jobs, internships," Hassabis said. "I think there is some evidence... maybe like a slowdown in hiring in that." However, he argued that this impact could be more than offset by the rise of powerful AI tools that are now widely accessible at low or no cost -- tools he believes can outperform the traditional learning benefits of internships. Hassabis acknowledged that even AI builders themselves struggle to fully explore the capabilities of today's systems, let alone what is coming next. "Even those of us building it -- we're so busy building it -- it's hard to have time to really explore the capability overhang even today's models and products have," he said. According to Hassabis, mastering AI tools could allow young workers to "leapfrog" traditional career pathways and become professionally useful faster than through conventional internships. In April 2025, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that more than 30% of the company's code is now written by AI. Around the same time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that AI systems are responsible for about 30% of the code produced at Microsoft. AI-first companies are seeing even bigger changes. In May 2025, a senior engineer at Anthropic said that nearly 80% of Claude Code's own codebase is written by the AI tool itself. Boris Cherny, who created Claude Code, said he had not written any production code for over a month, as the AI now handles most of the work. Google executive Jeff Dean said in May 2025 that AI is quickly reaching the level of a junior software developer.

Anthropic CEO Says AI Could Replace Software Engineers in 6 to 12 Months

Dario Amodei delivered a chilling warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes software engineers may soon be an extinct species. In an interview with The Economist at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Amodei said AI models could do "most, maybe all" of what software engineers currently do within six to twelve months. "I have engineers within Anthropic who say I don't write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code, I edit it," he said. The bold prediction sparked intense debate on social media. One user wrote, "Software Engineering Will Be Automatable in 12 Months. Yeah, we're cooked." Another noted the shift: "AI models will be able to do most, maybe all of what software engineers do end-to-end within 6 to 12 months, shifting engineers to editors." Amodei admitted he wasn't completely certain how fast the transition will happen, noting some components, like chip manufacturing and model training, can't yet be automated. Before leading Anthropic, he served as Vice President of Research at OpenAI and worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Google Brain.

Anthropic CEO Predicts AI Models Will Replace Software Engineers In 6-12 Months: 'I Don't Write Any Code Anymore' - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dario Amodei, CEO of the California-based AI company Anthropic, made a bold prediction about the future of software engineering, suggesting that AI models could soon take over most, if not all, tasks currently performed by software engineers. He estimated that this shift could happen within the next six to twelve months. Engineers Already Abandoning Manual Coding Amodei's comments were made during a discussion with Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. When asked about the timeline for this shift, Amodei noted that engineers at Anthropic have already stopped writing code manually. He said, "We are now in terms of the models that write code. I have engineers within Anthropic who say, I don't write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code. I edit it. I do the things around it. I think we might be six to 12 months away from when the model is doing most, maybe all of what we do end to end." Self-Improvement Loop Accelerates Development Amodei, who is considered the principal leader and guiding force behind the development of the Claude family of AI models, explained that the mechanism involves AI models proficient at coding and AI research creating next-generation models, establishing an acceleration loop. "It's a question of how fast does that loop close," he said, acknowledging constraints including chip manufacturing and training time limit automation speed. AI Poised To Automate Jobs Amodei's prediction about the automation of software engineering tasks aligns with the rapid advancements in AI and automation technologies. Companies like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have already begun implementing AI tools to automate various tasks in the retail sector. Similarly, in November 2025, Zeni, an AI bookkeeping software, launched an AI Accounting Agent to automate complex accounting workflows. The trend has also raised concerns for many, with AI researcher Geoffrey Hinton, aka the "Godfather of AI,' warning that AI could replace millions of jobs by 2026. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. MSFTMicrosoft Corp $454.790.06% Overview Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

AI will write codes like humans within a year, says Anthropic CEO

Reactions are mixed, as people worry about job security while others see AI as a tool to speed up work and help smaller teams build bigger products. Just days after reports revealed that AI agents wrote more than one million lines of code to build a full web browser from scratch, a fresh warning has come from the top of the AI industry. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, said that artificial intelligence could soon handle almost everything a software engineer does today. His message was clear and direct. The shift is not years away. It may already be unfolding inside tech companies. Amodei pointed to real changes happening within his own organisation, suggesting the future of software jobs may arrive far sooner than many expect. During a panel discussion with The Economist and Google DeepMind, Amodei said AI systems are closing in on the ability to manage software projects from start to finish. This includes planning work, writing code, fixing mistakes, testing results, and delivering final products. He believes this could happen within the next six to twelve months. If that timeline holds, it would mark one of the fastest transformations in modern work history. Also read: Apple Pay may finally launch in India soon, says reports Amodei revealed that some engineers at Anthropic no longer write code themselves. Instead, they rely on AI to generate it and then step in to review and refine the output. Their work has shifted toward decision-making and oversight rather than manual coding. This change shows how software roles are already evolving in real time. He described this progress as a closing loop, where AI no longer needs constant human guidance to complete a full project. Once given a task, the system could move independently from idea to delivery. This raises serious questions about the long-term role of human engineers. Also read: Amazon Great Republic Day sale 2026: OnePlus 15R, iQOO Z10 5G and more on discount Still, Amodei stressed that AI is not ready to control everything. Areas like chip production and full model training remain difficult for machines. He further added that because of these limits, the future of AI taking jobs remains uncertain. However, the response of the developer community has been mixed. While some people fear losing their jobs, others view this as a chance to learn new skills and use AI as a helper to minimize mundane work. The more optimistic section of the community thinks that with the help of powerful AI tools, they will be able to develop products faster and compete with teams that are much larger in size.