Newsom Signs California Laws Limiting Workplace AI

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of measures Wednesday limiting employers’ use of artificial intelligence in workplace decisions and surveillance, including a rule barring companies from relying solely on automated systems to discipline or fire workers. He also ordered state agencies under his authority to keep calling the technology “artificial intelligence” or “AI,” rather than “super intelligence.” The workplace measures require employers to provide information when AI substantially contributes to qualifying mass layoffs, relocations or terminations, according to accounts of the signed legislation. Other provisions restrict certain AI-powered workplace monitoring, including surveillance in employee bathrooms, and the collection of some neural data or attempts to infer workers’ emotional states. The restrictions do not prohibit employers from using AI in personnel decisions. Instead, they require human involvement in discipline and termination decisions, while providing workers with transparency about certain job losses linked to the technology.