Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnThomas KentSat, July 4, 2026 at 12:45 PM GMT+2 8 min readBill Pugliano/ Getty ImagesMoneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.General Motors has laid off (1) more than 1,000 workers at its Factory ZERO assembly plant in Detroit while simultaneously introducing 50 AI-powered collaborative robots to the production line.The new machines, known as "cobots (2)," are designed to work alongside human employees rather than replace them outright. But the timing of the rollout has drawn criticism from the United Auto Workers, which argues the move highlights the growing human cost of automation.Top PicksDave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake —