California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order aimed at preparing workers, small businesses and communities for possible job disruption from artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The governor’s office announced the order Thursday, framing it as an effort to prepare California workers and businesses for possible AI-driven disruption.<\/p>\n
“California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us \u2013 and we won’t start now,” Newsom said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The order<\/a> notes that California is home to many of the world’s leading AI companies. Still, it directs state agencies to study and prepare for possible layoffs, hiring shifts and broader economic disruption tied to the technology.<\/p>\n The order calls for recommendations within 180 days on possible updates to California’s WARN Act, with the goal of making the law more useful as an early-warning tool for workforce disruption.<\/p>\n Other possible worker protections and support programs the order directs officials to examine include severance standards, employment insurance, transition support for displaced workers, worker ownership models and expanded workforce training.<\/p>\n “This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system \u2014 how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future,” Newsom stated.<\/p>\n The order also calls for a new report on early warning signs of labor disruption, a dashboard tracking AI’s impact across sectors and more feedback from businesses on how technology is affecting workforce decisions.<\/p>\n Newsom’s office framed the order as part of California’s broader approach to AI, pointing to previous actions on AI transparency<\/a>, privacy, safety, consumer protections<\/a> and state government use of the technology.<\/p>\n