California has enacted new legislation to protect workers from AI-powered layoffs and surveillance, announced Governor Gavin Newsom. The new laws primarily target companies using AI to initiate job cuts or monitor employees, making them some of the first in the nation to give workers rights regarding AI deployment in the workplace.
"AI should expand opportunity — not come at the expense of workers and families," said Newsom. "As this technology reshapes the workplace, California is putting people at the center." Newsom criticized recent Trump administration claims that the AI industry can self-regulate, calling them "bulls*it" and emphasizing the need for more action without federal leadership.
The law prohibits employers from solely relying on AI for disciplinary or termination decisions and requires transparency when mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations result from AI systems. It also bans surveillance tools in workplace bathrooms and prevents lawyers from fully delegating core legal work like drafting briefs to AI.
Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, also signed an executive order requiring state agencies to continue referring to the technology as "artificial intelligence" rather than "super intelligence" as mandated by Trump. California's actions may have been influenced by Meta employee complaints alleging biased AI tools disproportionately selected individuals who took medical leave for layoffs. HR Dive reports that one in four managers use AI to help decide which employees to cut "often or all the time."
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing