Recently, a wave of rumors has swept across the internet, alleging that Lao Gan Ma, the renowned chili sauce brand, is leveraging AI technology to implement massive layoffs. According to these unfounded claims, the company has slashed its workforce from 600 employees to a mere 48, all while achieving an impressive annual revenue of 5.4 billion yuan. This sensational news has ignited fervent debates and triggered a notable slump in Lao Gan Ma's online sales, with related topics dominating social media trends.

In a decisive move to quell the speculation, Lao Gan Ma has officially debunked the rumors of AI-driven layoffs as baseless. A spokesperson for the company previously outlined its ambitious goal of attaining a revenue of 5.4 billion yuan by 2025. To this end, Lao Gan Ma is actively pursuing the intelligent transformation of its production facilities. Notably, the company has already introduced an AI visual quality inspection system, which has effectively replaced the manual chili sorting tasks previously performed by over 600 workers. However, it's important to note that a select few workers have been retained in this role for verification purposes, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the AI system.