Governor Inks AI Workforce Protection Executive Order

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed another executive order related to artificial intelligence this week, directing several agencies and departments to research and return recommendations about the technology’s impact on the state’s labor market.

Under the order, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), the Governor’s Office for Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and the Department of Finance will have 90 days to return an analysis about the potential for AI to disrupt the state’s workforce.

In addition, LWDA will be expected to return recommendations about revisions to the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act within 180 days, while also providing a review of “policies and practices that provide displaced workers with a safety net,” among other things.

The workforce agency will have until Oct. 15, 2026, to review how the collective bargaining process is addressing new technologies, and to review how existing workforce training programs are evolving to address emerging technologies such as AI.

The order also instructs the Employment Development Department (EDD) to collect and summarize feedback from businesses about technological adoption related to hiring and instructs EDD to create a dashboard to illustrate the impacts of AI across “various sectors” and informed by unemployment insurance data.

The Government Operations Agency (GovOps), meanwhile, has been tasked with making recommendations around “actions that could alter incentive structures and increase the likelihood of AI development and deployments that advance the public good and address critical problems and emerging opportunities facing society.”

GO-Biz is tasked with evaluating and supporting “worker ownership models” in the space, while also supporting initiatives aimed at small business adoption of “opportunity AI.”

Finally, the governor’s directive instructs the California Health and Human Services Agency, in coordination with LWDA and the Office of Data and Innovation (ODI), to improve access to government services and benefits through ODI’s single online platform.