GoKawiil
Tech News
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a set of bills regulating artificial intelligence in the workplace, covering AI-driven layoff decisions, employee surveillance tools, deepfakes, and medical AI systems. The signings occurred on Wednesday as part of a broader state effort to set rules around AI use.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills barring employers from basing termination or disciplinary decisions solely on AI, and requiring disclosure when AI triggers mass layoffs or relocations. The laws also ban surveillance tools in workplace bathrooms and prevent lawyers from fully outsourcing core legal work to AI systems. Newsom additionally signed an order mandating state agencies use the term 'artificial intelligence' rather than 'super intelligence.'
An Entrepreneur op-ed argues that businesses making AI-driven layoffs, like Amazon and Klarna, often rebuild their workforces the same way they were structured before the cuts, risking a repeat of the inefficiencies that triggered the layoffs. The piece urges companies instead to use real-time workforce data and better-trained managers to redesign teams and hiring decisions rather than simply refilling old roles.