In defying AI job loss, California faces long odds

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday directing state agencies to prepare workers and businesses for potential AI-driven economic disruption, including job training programs and workforce impact monitoring. The order enlists labor experts, economists, universities, and AI leaders to develop policies and identify warning signs of workforce displacement as studies warn AI could render some white-collar jobs extinct. Newsom's action marks one of the first state-level regulatory efforts to confront AI's potential widespread economic impact, though critics note the pace of innovation may outstrip even California's aggressive lawmaking.

While lawmakers are still navigating how to regulate AI effectively, California is seeking to rein in some of the tech’s potential economic impacts. On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order http://gov.ca.gov/2026/05/21/governor-newsom-signs-first-of-its-kind-executive-order-to-prepare-workers-and-businesses-for-potential-ai-disruption/ directing the state to prepare workers and businesses for the “economic disruption” that AI is poised to have on the workforce. The order enlists the help of state agencies, labor experts, economists, universities, and AI leaders to develop policies and identify warning signs of workforce impacts. “We have taken the lead on advancing innovation, safety, and transparency. But we must think bigger,” Newsom said in a press release. “This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system — how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future.” The order calls for a number of measures to get ahead of the potential job displacement that could result from AI, including: - Preparing workers to better grapple with and understand AI, including AI and job training at small businesses and higher education institutions, as well as enhancing “worker ownership models” and collective bargaining agreements. - Providing more information to the public on AI’s impact on the workforce, such as a report with recommendations and best practices and a dashboard showing AI’s impact. - More robust responses to workforce disruption, such as considering worker safety net policies, increasing awareness of “employment stability payments,” and creating an “AI playbook” to modernize job training programs. - Developing stronger public policies to ensure AI advances the public good by working with academics and private sector experts on recommendations. Newsom’s order represents one of the first pieces of state AI regulation that seeks to confront the potential for widespread economic impact that the tech could have on the workforce. It comes as reports and studies continue mounting https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/the-ai-layoff-panic-is-outrunning-the-data that AI could completely upend the way we work, even rendering some white-collar job categories extinct. The doom-and-gloom forecasts have stoked broad fear among workers https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/gen-z-doesn-t-want-ai-but-feels-they-can-t-resist , particularly among young people who are new to or entering the workforce. But these predictions aren’t the only thing creating an anxious workforce. Tech companies have largely used AI as a scapegoat for their own layoffs https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/ai-based-layoffs-are-a-sign-you-re-doing-it-wrong , with companies such as Meta, Block, Atlassian, Oracle, Amazon and more cutting thousands of jobs as they pour billions into centering their organizations around AI. Our Deeper View California has always led the pack when it comes to tech regulation. The state has introduced a number of laws related to AI safety and privacy https://archive.thedeepview.com/p/the-ai-search-battle-heats-up as federal regulators largely drag their feet. But regulation has long lagged behind the actual impacts of the tech itself. With the pace at which AI is moving and companies’ fervent desire to be leaders, even the most aggressive lawmaking bodies may struggle to keep up with the sheer pace of innovation. And despite the fact that the nexus of AI’s most bleeding-edge innovation lives in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, Newsom’s executive order might not be enough to stop the onrushing tide. Rather, it may simply serve as triage to help salve the wounds.