Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Named to Fed Task Force on Jobs After Layoffs
The US Federal Reserve has established five new task forces to review and modernize the central bank's operations, under newly appointed Chairman Kevin Warsh. Among the external experts leading these panels is Xbox Chief Executive Asha Sharma, who will co-chair the Productivity and Jobs task force.
The appointment comes days after Sharma announced a major restructuring at Xbox, which will result in approximately 3,200 job cuts by the end of the 2027 financial year. The layoffs have raised concerns among game developers about potential damage to the company's key brands.
Sharma will lead the task force alongside Stanford economics professor Charles I. Jones, currently on sabbatical at AI safety firm Anthropic, and prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, known for backing AI companies. The panel will study how emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, affect the broader economy, with findings intended to inform future US interest rate and monetary policies.
Chairman Warsh stated that the task forces aim to improve the Fed's methods, analytical tools, and policy approaches to better achieve its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment. He emphasized the need to adapt to significant changes in the US economy over the past generation.
