California Candidate Proposes AI Worker Job Guarantee Program
Original: There’s a Long-Shot Proposal to Protect California Workers From AI
Why This Matters
First statewide political proposal for systematic AI displacement protection
Tom Steyer, California gubernatorial candidate, proposes guaranteed jobs for workers displaced by AI. Plan includes token tax on tech companies processing data, with funds supporting housing, healthcare, and infrastructure jobs.
Billionaire Tom Steyer becomes first statewide candidate to pledge AI displacement job guarantee in California. His plan would tax big tech companies 'a fraction of a cent for every unit of data processed' for AI, funding a Golden State Sovereign Wealth Fund. Money would create jobs in housing, healthcare, and energy infrastructure modernization. The proposal includes expanding unemployment insurance and establishing an AI Worker Protection Administration with union leaders, academics, and technologists. Steyer states people are 'terrified that AI is going to hollow out this whole economy.' The plan builds on similar concepts from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI's wealth fund proposal. Primary opponent Xavier Becerra also released an AI plan calling for workforce support without specific funding mechanisms.