After more than ten days of circulation, the unfounded claim that Laoganma had leveraged AI technology to slash its workforce—reducing the number of pepper-picking workers from over 600 to a mere 48—has finally been addressed by the company. Laoganma clarified that it has never employed over 600 pepper-picking workers and that the rumors regarding AI-driven layoffs are entirely false. An investigation revealed that the employment figures originated from an article discussing intelligent transformation, which cited no sources. These figures were subsequently picked up by social media platforms and some media outlets, giving rise to assertions such as "552 AI-induced layoffs." This sparked significant controversy, with some netizens going as far as to boycott Laoganma's products and questioning why prices had not dropped despite purported cost reductions.

Publicly available information indicates that the number of insured employees at Laoganma decreased from 2,912 in 2022 to 740 in 2025, marking a reduction of 2,172 over the three-year period. However, it is important to note that the decline in insured employees began in 2022, well before the full implementation of the AI quality inspection system in 2025. A decrease in the number of insured employees does not necessarily equate to direct layoffs, as factors such as retirements and personnel turnover can also influence these figures, with no clear evidence establishing a direct link between the two.

In terms of business performance, Laoganma achieved a record revenue of 5.4 billion yuan in 2025, although this represented a modest year-on-year increase of only 0.17% compared to 2024. The online assertion that Laoganma "earned 5.4 billion yuan in one year with AI" confuses the concepts of revenue and profit. Laoganma's AI visual quality inspection system is primarily utilized to identify and eliminate unqualified peppers, thereby replacing manual, repetitive, and tedious sorting tasks. Manual review is retained for borderline cases, representing a technological upgrade in the production process.

Currently, Laoganma has not publicly addressed the reasons behind the decline in insured employees or provided details regarding workforce adjustments following the intelligent transformation.