College grad unemployment could hit 25% in coming years if we don't deal with AI job risk now: Senator Mark Warner

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Unemployment among recent college graduates hit 9% in November, but that will seem like a low jobless rate among young Americans in the years ahead if government and industry do not begin to proactively address the risk of AI job displacement, says Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia.

Speaking at the CNBC CFO Council Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Warner told CNBC Senior Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers that he fears the unemployment rate among recent college grads could reach 25% over the next three to five years if the AI issue is not addressed. Warner is working with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri on an effort to require data collection on AI-linked job losses. Warner said his biggest fear is not related to the recent layoffs from the corporate sector, but the jobs that will never be created.

“What I am more worried about than the recent announcements, the 15,000 or 14,000 job losses at the big tech companies, is the job dislocation that takes place in terms of jobs not being created in the first place,” Warner said. “Many big banks have shared with me they are cutting interns and first-year hires in half, and planning to do so next year too.”