Bill Burr Argues for AI to Replace CEOs Instead of Workers

The comedian argued that swapping out one executive salary would save companies more than cutting workers.

ByTrey Alston
September 27, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Bill Burr told Rolling Stone that companies should build an empathetic AI CEO instead of using artificial intelligence to replace working people, arguing one executive salary costs more than the labor it oversees.
• The interview also covered Burr’s reaction to healthcare executives’ response to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying they focused on security rather than reexamining their practices.
• Burr also discussed his Broadway run in Glengarry Glen Ross and his upcoming role in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, a film based on 2021 Wall Street Journal reporting on the Facebook whistleblower.

Bill Burr is pitching a different use for artificial intelligence: point it at the top of the org chart.

The comedian made the case during a sit-down with Rolling Stone, pointing out that it makes way more sense to create AI CEOs instead of AI workers, considering the fact that companies will save way more.

“All this AI is to replace working people. It’s like, why don’t you make an AI CEO that’s empathetic, that cares about the middle class and the future of the planet?” the comedian asked.

“They’re making way more. You take that guy’s salary versus all the work. You’re going to save way more money replacing one guy,” Burr continued. “Why don’t you do that? Because it’s not for us, it’s for them.”

The numbers behind the bit are not small. The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio at large public companies sits near 290 to 1.

Elsewhere in the interview, Burr turned to healthcare executives and their reaction to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“The response to the Luigi thing was not to be like, ‘Well, hey, maybe we need to look at what we’re doing if what we’re doing makes some crazy person do this.’ Their response was to take their faces off of the internet and get security.”

Burr also used the interview to talk about his Broadway run in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Next up, the comedian is set to appear in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, the ensemble film built around the 2021 Wall Street Journal reporting on the Facebook whistleblower.