from Harry JohnsonCalMatters Governor Gavin Newsom issued an AI executive order to find ways to mitigate the technology’s impact on workers. Newsom at a news conference on his revised 2026-27 budget in Sacramento on May 14, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Amid tech cutbacks, anxiety over artificial intelligence and a looming run for president, Gov. Gavin Newsom today has signed an executive order which calls on government agencies to explore ways to mitigate job losses resulting from the use of AI. The order, among other things, requires a report on the impact of AI on California’s labor market and ways to help displaced workers, including through compensation and subsidized employment policies. It also calls for increased job training, stock compensation and cooperative worker ownership, and a review of how unions negotiate on AI. Newsom earlier signed executive orders last month and in 2023 at the same time, AI protections are being introduced and government agencies are being encouraged to use the technology. The latest order comes a day after Facebook owner Meta laid off 8,000 employees, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing AI in a memo to staff following the layoffs. It also comes two days after the California Senate passed Law without robo bosseswhich prevents businesses from using decisions made by AI and other automated systems as the sole reason for firing or disciplining a person. Newsom vetoed such a bill last fall. In February, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, members of the California Federation of Labor and labor leaders in Democratic primary states pledged to withdraw support for Newsom’s 2028 presidential campaign if he doesn’t take steps to protect workers from artificial intelligence. Newsom’s veto of the predecessor to the No Robo Bosses Act was cited as the reason for this pledge. This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license. Copy the HTML