The labor market is heating up! California Governor Gavin Newsom has just put the pedal to the metal with a tool that promises to stir up the hornet’s nest: the first system in the entire United States to measure how artificial intelligence (AI) is leaving people jobless. It’s called CAIT, the AI unemployment tracker, and it’s already making waves.
According to Newsom’s office, this tool uses data from unemployment insurance claims in the Golden State to cross-reference information with indicators of AI exposure. The goal? To detect changes in employment before it’s too late. The platform updates every month and allows authorities to track labor trends, and here’s the kicker: the public can view data broken down by age, sex, ethnicity, economic status, and location.
June 2026 numbers show that, for now, there is no widespread wave of layoffs. But watch out, alarms are already sounding in some sectors. The California Policy Lab report detected an increase in unemployment claims among college graduates since ChatGPT exploded in 2022. It also saw a rise in claims in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the technology and professional services sectors. No joke!
To build the analysis, the lab folks use two indicators: potential exposure, which measures whether language models can reduce the time for tasks in a job by 50%, and observed exposure, which looks at the real-world use of Anthropic’s Claude platform in daily work. With that mix, they identify which jobs are on the line.
The tool was created in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and according to Newsom, the goal is to make decisions based on concrete data, not speculation. California, which is the cradle of the biggest AI companies in the country, wants to combine technological development with measures to protect workers.
The government is already investing in training programs and paid apprenticeships, with over 674,000 participants. It also funded the California Workforce Association to develop a training strategy, and launched the Degree Plus program, which combines college degrees with professional certifications to help young people find jobs more easily.
The million-dollar question: will AI leave us all on the ropes? For now, California says no, but the warning signs are already there. Don’t get too comfortable!
Para mí esto huele a otro curro de los políticos, Newsom nos espiá con ese rastreador mientras la IA nos deja sin laburo. Yo creo que quieren controlarnos y llenarse los bolsillos con nuestros impuestos. ¡Basura de gobierno, nos tienen podridos!
Para mí este Newsom es un careta, un rastreador pedorro no va a parar que los CEOs nos echen mientras se llenan de guita con la IA. Esto huele a maquillaje para que sigamos laburando por dos mangos mientras los robots nos reemplazan. Yo creo que es hora de agarrar los fierros, ¡VIVA LA LUCHA OBRERA CARAJO!