Jun 30, 2026
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that will result in the state launching an online tracking tool to monitor AI-related job loss.
The system, which will be the first in the nation, is meant to “help the state monitor, track, and anticipate job loss,” the governor’s office wrote in a statement. It comes as concerns about the AI’s impact on the workforce continue to grow.
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The tracker will be updated monthly and will use research from the California Employment Development Department, as well as with the California Policy Lab at the University of California to measure the losses that are tied to AI. California is home to 33 of the top 50 private AI companies in the world.
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Hurdles to accurate job loss reports
There are a number of factors that could cast doubt on findings about AI’s displacement of human workers.
For one, AI could be serving as a scapegoat for companies who are looking to trim their rosters for other reasons.
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software, said as much earlier this year in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
“Technology is not going to take people’s jobs,” he claimed. “The big tech companies who laid off thousands of people and said it was because of AI were not telling the truth. It was because they over-hired in the pandemic and they were sloppy about it and they haven’t addressed their headcount issues.”
Meanwhile, researchers, including those the California site will be relying on, say there are limitations to their ability to determine if AI is truly behind displacement.
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“Our measures of AI exposure capture the extent to which job tasks could be or have been performed by AI, not necessarily whether AI is being adopted or causing displacement at a specific workplace,” wrote the California Policy Lab in a paper.
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Insight into future workforce trends needed
Despite that, proponents are optimistic that the tracker will provide early indicators for fields where AI is displacing workers. Doing so, they say, will let the state offer resources such as job‑search support, retraining and upskilling opportunities, and health‑coverage guidance.
For now, though, that assistance doesn’t seem to be needed. Initial data from the tracker shows “no evidence of rising statewide unemployment claims in AI-exposed occupations,” the state said. But that could change.
“Right now, we are not seeing evidence of large-scale AI-related layoffs in California’s labor market,” said Dr. Ben Hyman, Senior Researcher at the California Policy Lab, in a statement. “But we do see patterns in certain regions like the Bay Area, in certain tech-heavy sectors, and among highly AI-exposed workers with college degrees. It will be important to continue monitoring trends for those workers, as well as others, so that policymakers can respond appropriately.”
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
