Thanks to the lofty forecasts of tech CEOs, for example, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, famously predicted AI could soon replace half of all entry-level white-collar jobs – something many industries are bracing for given that the number of human workers being replaced by machines will increase. The economic and social disruption caused by such large-scale displacement, true believers say, will be unlike anything ever seen in human history.
However, at present, such seismic effects have not yet been observed. More individuals and businesses are now using AI than ever before, and yet overall, the job market seems to be riding the wave without any noticeable disaster. The threat of job destruction is not visible anywhere.
At least that’s the case in California, according to data released Thursday with a new public dashboard designed to track the impacts of AI on the state’s labor market. Despite being a global economic and cultural center for technology, the state has not yet begun to experience the displacement that many tech giants had predicted.
“At the moment, we are not seeing evidence of large-scale AI-related layoffs in the California labor market,” Ben Hyman, an economist and senior researcher at the California Policy Lab, a research institute at the University of California, said in a statement.
However, there were exceptions to that general rule: Hyman said unemployment claims have been higher in some, more exposed areas (like the Bay Area) and tech-heavy sectors (like finance, education and IT). Was Recent years have seen growth, thanks to AI. “It will be important to continue to monitor trends among those workers, as well as others, so that policymakers can respond appropriately,” he said.
The public dashboard, called the California AI-Unemployment Tracker (CAIT), was created in collaboration with the UCLA division of the California Policy Lab and the Employment Development Department (EDD), an agency that provides financial and job search assistance to unemployed Californians, among other functions. The “first in the nation” tool, as described in a press release, will be updated monthly. It aims to help state policymakers identify sectors and sectors that need support most, while giving workers a clear understanding of how vulnerable their jobs may be due to AI-displacement.
Data and public dashboards follow one executive Order Issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom in May, it directed state agencies to begin preparing for AI-driven disruptions in the labor market in collaboration with academic and private sector experts.
NEW: @CAG Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of California’s first-in-the-making tool to proactively track AI-related job loss trends – an early warning system to help the state monitor, track, and anticipate job losses.
The dashboard was developed in partnership with… pic.twitter.com/p58uyIoWyl
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 25, 2026
Stewart Knox, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said in a statement that the data-tracking dashboard “provides us with a clearer picture of how AI is impacting working people and jobs, and where we need to focus support and training.” “By basing our decisions in data, we can respond quickly and strengthen pathways to good jobs to ensure California’s workforce is able to adapt and grow as technology evolves.”
Leading AI developers like anthropic, MicrosoftAnd OpenAI It has also researched the current and potential future impacts of AI on the job market, with a view to guiding both policymakers and workers.
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