Xbox's New CEO Just Joined the Fed's AI Jobs Task Force — Layoffs Sold Separately

Days after unveiling plans to cut roughly 3,200 positions at Xbox, newly appointed Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been named to a Federal Reserve task force studying how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies could reshape jobs, productivity, and the broader economy. The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that Sharma will serve on its Productivity and Jobs task force, part of a broader central bank review of monetary policy approaches.

Sharma, who previously worked in Microsoft's Core AI group before taking over Xbox, will serve alongside Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Charles I. Jones, a Stanford University economics professor currently on leave at Anthropic. "The U.S. economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now," Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said. "Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers' means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon." According to the Fed, the five task forces will bring together outside experts in economics, business, and central banking to examine how the central bank approaches monetary policy, including communications, balance sheet policy, economic data, and inflation frameworks.

The appointment comes as Sharma oversees what she described as the "most significant restructure in Xbox history," with plans to reduce the division's workforce by approximately 3,200 employees through FY27. The cuts begin with 1,600 role eliminations, while four studios will leave Xbox for new management. In a letter to employees earlier this week, Sharma said Xbox's business was "not healthy," citing lower margins than comparable platform and publishing businesses, a smaller Gen 9 console install base, and higher costs.

"I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX," she wrote. "Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today's decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication." Sharma added that Xbox's investments in Game Pass, multi-platform releases, and a broader content portfolio created value but did not grow as quickly as expected, even as the company added more teams and investment while its core business weakened.