There is growing evidence that the widespread adoption of generative AI is impacting the job prospects of America’s workers, according to a paper released on Tuesday by three Stanford University researchers.

The study analyzed payroll records from millions of American workers, generated by ADP, the largest payroll software firm in the U.S.

The report found “early, large-scale evidence consistent with the hypothesis that the AI revolution is beginning to have a significant and disproportionate impact on entry-level workers in the American labor market.”

Most notably, the findings revealed that workers between the ages of 22 and 25 in jobs most exposed to AI — such as customer service, accounting and software development — have seen a 13% decline in employment since 2022.

By contrast, employment for more experienced workers in the same fields, and for workers of all ages in less-exposed occupations such as nursing aides, has stayed steady or grown. Jobs for young health aides, for example, rose faster than their older counterparts.

Front-line production and operations supervisors’ roles also showed an increase in employment for young workers, though this growth was smaller than that for workers over the age of 35.

The potential impact of AI on the job market has been a concern across industries and age groups, but the Stanford study appears to show that the results will be far from uniform. 

The study sought to rule out factors that could skew the data, including education level, remote work, outsourced jobs, and broader economic shifts, which could impact hiring decisions.

According to the Stanford study, their findings may explain why national employment growth for young workers has been stagnant, while overall employment has largely remained resilient since the global pandemic, despite recent signs of softening.

Young workers were said to be especially vulnerable because AI can replace “codified knowledge,” or “book-learning” that comes from formal education. On the other hand, AI may be less capable of replacing knowledge that comes from years of experience. 

The researchers also noted that not all uses of AI are associated with declines in employment. In occupations where AI complements work and is used to help with efficiency, there have been muted changes in employment rates.

The study — which hasn’t been peer-reviewed — appears to show mounting evidence that AI will replace jobs, a topic that has been hotly debated. 

Earlier this month, a Goldman Sachs economist said changes to the American labor market brought on by the arrival of generative AI were already showing up in employment data, particularly in the technology sector and among younger employees. 

He also noted that most companies were yet to deploy artificial intelligence for day-to-day use, meaning that the job market impact had yet to be fully realized.

Sales of Tesla cars in Europe plunged in July, in the company’s seventh consecutive month of declines, while Chinese rival BYD saw a monthly surge, data released on Thursday showed.

New car registrations of Tesla vehicles totaled 8,837 in July, down 40% year-on-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA. BYD meanwhile recorded 13,503 new registrations in July, up 225% annually.

Tesla’s declines took place even as overall sales of battery electric cars rose in Europe, ACEA data showed.

Elon Musk‘s automaker faces a number of challenges in Europe including intense ongoing competition and reputational damage to the brand from the billionaire’s incendiary rhetoric and relationship with the Trump administration.

Tesla has struggled globally in recent times. The company’s auto sales revenue fell in the second quarter of the year and Musk warned that the automaker “could have a few rough quarters” ahead.

One of Tesla’s issues is that it has not had a major refresh of its car line-up. The company said this year that it is working on a more affordable electric car with “volume production” planned for the second half of 2025, with investors hoping this will reinvigorate sales.

Thomas Besson, head of automobile sector research at Kepler Cheuvreux, said Tesla management has been trying to “convince investors that Tesla is not really a car company” by talking about artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy.

“They talk about almost everything else but the car they’re selling at a slower pace now because effectively, the age of their vehicle is much higher than the competition and the latest products have not been as successful as hoped, notably the Cybertruck,” Besson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.

But the U.S. automaker is up against Chinese players, which are launching models aggressively and ramping up their push into Europe. BYD has led that charge, opening showrooms up across the continent and launching its cars at competitive prices over the last two years.

Chinese brands commanded a record market share rate of more than 5% in the first half of the year, which is a record high, according to data from JATO Dynamics released last month.

It’s not only Tesla feeling the heat from Chinese competition. Jeep owner Stellantis, South Korea’s Hyundai Group and Japan’s Toyota and Suzuki, all posted year-on-year declines in European new car registrations in July.

By contrast, Volkswagen, BMW and Renault Group, were among those that logged increases in new European car registrations across the month.

Microsoft on Thursday said that it had terminated two employees who broke into President Brad Smith’s office earlier this week.

The news comes after seven current and former Microsoft employees on Tuesday held a protest in the company’s building in Redmond, Washington, in opposition to the Israeli military’s alleged use of the company’s software as part of its invasion of Gaza.

The protesters, affiliated with the group No Azure for Apartheid, gained entry into Smith’s office and had demanded that Microsoft end its direct and indirect support to Israel.

In a post on Instagram, No Azure for Apartheid said Riki Fameli and Anna Hattle had been fired by the company.

“Two employees were terminated today following serious breaches of company policies and our code of conduct,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, noting unlawful break-ins at the executive offices.

“These incidents are inconsistent with the expectations we maintain for our employees. The company is continuing to investigate and is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding these matters,” the statement added.

In the aftermath of the protests, Smith claimed that the protestors had blocked people out of the office, planted listening devices in the form of phones, and refused to leave until they were removed by police. 

No Azure For Apartheid defines itself as “a movement of Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft end its direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide.”

The Guardian earlier this month reported that the Israeli military had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure to store the phone calls of Palestinians, leading the company to authorize a third-party investigation into whether its technology has been used in surveillance.

Smith said on Tuesday that the company would “investigate and get to the truth” of how services are being used. 

According to Smith, No Azure For Apartheid also mounted protests around the company’s campus last week, leading to 20 arrests in one day, with 16 having never worked at Microsoft. 

No Azure for Apartheid has held a series of actions this year, including at Microsoft’s Build developer conference and at a celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that a Microsoft director had reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the protests.

Microsoft’s actions come after tech giant Google fired 28 employees last year following a series of protests against labor conditions and the company’s contract with the Israeli government and military for cloud computing and artificial intelligence services. In that case, some employees had gained access to the office of Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google’s cloud unit.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.