As California Governor Gavin Newsom inks a deal with Anthropic to expand the use of its chatbot Claude across state agencies, he’s also rolling out a plan to start tracking AI-related job losses. The dichotomy points to a political conundrum sweeping state capitols: As politicians attempt to rein in the power of the tech companies, they’re increasingly relying on AI products. (Newsom has the added complexity of trying not to alienate the US’ most powerful companies — and donors — as he prepares for a 2028 presidential run.)
Measuring the number of AI-related job cuts has been difficult — and contradictory. New research by fintech Ramp and workforce tracking company Revelio, which measured AI spending against headcount changes, found that companies heavily adopting AI have increased hiring. Meanwhile, California’s new dashboard, which focuses on unemployment insurance claims, found no broad evidence of rising statewide unemployment resulting from AI. But the state did find rising unemployment claims among workers whose jobs are highly exposed to AI — like those in tech. So even if the warnings of sky-high job-related losses haven’t manifested yet, the fear among voters is a very real thing for politicians like Newsom.