Gavin Newsom signs first US state order protecting workers from AI displacement
california governor gavin newsom signed an executive order directing state agencies to create labor market strategies including subsidies for retaining workers and retraining programs to counter ai-driven job loss.
governor gavin newsom signed a groundbreaking executive order to address ai-driven job displacement, mobilizing state agencies to partner with researchers, unions, and the ai industry. the initiative will explore financial subsidies for companies that maintain their workforce instead of replacing humans with automation, alongside expanded retraining programs specifically targeting office workers. additionally, the order calls for a review of "universal basic capital" concepts, potentially involving citizen stakes in financial funds to offset economic disruption. newsom emphasized that traditional unemployment insurance is insufficient to handle the scale of potential job loss, referencing anthropic ceo dario amodei's forecast that half of office jobs could disappear within five years. the order also targets systemic tax issues, noting that current frameworks penalize human labor while incentivizing automation.