California launches a statewide tracker to monitor AI-related job loss

California governor Gavin Newsom just announced a statewide tracker that follows AI-related unemployment claims—and said it’s the first tool of its kind in the country. Created from a partnership between the governor’s office, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and the University of California’s nonpartisan California Policy Lab (CPL), the California AI-Unemployment Tracker monitors AI-related job loss by using statewide data on unemployment insurance claims. With planned monthly updates, it breaks down claims by region, industry, age, education, race, ethnicity and gender. The launch follows an executive order signed by Newsom in May, which called upon state agencies to develop policies that would support workers at risk of AI-related job loss. “California has always been a place that embraces innovation while taking seriously the responsibility that comes with it,” Newsom said in a press release. “We’re shaping the future — and charting the course for the nation,” Newsom added. “As AI advances, we aren’t just watching from the sidelines; we’re reimagining how we prepare California through strong governance and innovative policy.” The tracker comes at a time of uncertainty about AI and its impacts on the labor market. According to tech layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi, more than 121,000 tech employees have been laid off this year. While some AI leaders have called AI an excuse for job cuts, some companies have admitted that AI has played a role in mass layoffs. After Oracle laid off 21,000 employees in the last year, the company’s most recent annual report stated that the “deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce.” According to the tracker’s accompanying report, no evidence points to a statewide surge in layoffs among AI-exposed workers. Other data has suggested that few workers in the U.S. have actually been replaced by AI in practice since the rise of LLMs, an