Newsom Orders Review to Shield Workers on AI

California is moving to get ahead of AI layoffs before they hit full force. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed what his office calls the first state-level executive order focused on preventing job losses tied to artificial intelligence, reports the New York Times. The order directs state agencies to rethink how workers are protected as white-collar roles—from customer service to software development—come under threat. Newsom's office wants recommendations within 180 days, per CBS News.

The order stipulates that agencies work with unions, academics, and AI firms on ideas like subsidizing companies that keep workers instead of automating, expanding retraining programs, and studying "universal basic capital," which would give residents stakes in assets such as stocks or public wealth funds. It also asks officials to examine how collective bargaining might help narrow the growing gap between booming AI companies and laborers. The move comes as major tech firms, including Meta, Intel, Cisco, and Amazon, cut thousands of jobs while leaning harder into AI—and as some leaders, from Elon Musk to AI startup Anthropic's Dario Amodei, warn that technology could wipe out large swaths of white-collar employment in just a few years.