May 22, 2026
California's governor just signed the first executive order by a US governor aimed at protecting workers from AI-driven job loss.
State agencies will work with researchers, unions, and the AI industry to develop new labor market strategies. The specifics: subsidies for companies that keep workers instead of replacing them with AI, expanded retraining programs focused on office workers, and a review of "universal basic capital" - essentially giving all citizens stakes in stocks or funds.
Newsom warned that traditional unemployment insurance won't be enough. He's responding to predictions like the one from Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei, who said roughly half of all office jobs could disappear within five years. Newsom also called out a tax system that rewards automation while penalizing workers, the New York Times reports.
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