In a rare show of bipartisan unity, U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a bill to address growing concerns over AI-driven job losses. Known as the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act, the bill requires government agencies, publicly traded companies and select private companies to share quarterly data on how artificial intelligence affects their workforces, particularly as it relates to job losses.
What Is the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act?
The AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act is a bill that would require federal agencies, public companies and certain private companies to provide data on how AI has impacted their workforces, particularly through job cuts and gains. The Department of Labor would then compile these findings into a quarterly report that would be made accessible to the U.S. Congress and the general public.
The move comes at a time when AI is becoming an increasingly partisan issue. While a recent Pew Research survey shows that both Republicans and Democrats are almost equally “more concerned than excited” about the technology’s growing prevalence in daily life, the two parties often diverge on how exactly it should be regulated. Democrats tend to push for stronger federal oversight focused on things like consumer protection and safety, whereas Republicans are generally more wary of imposing rules they think could stifle innovation — a position President Donald Trump has largely reinforced. Still, both sides seem concerned with AI’s potential to slow job growth and hinder the labor market long term.
Now, this new act poses an interesting challenge to the typically partisan topic of AI regulation, putting politicians in a position where they may have to confront the very pro-AI stance that the Trump administration has championed.
What Does the AI-Related Jobs Impacts Clarity Act Say?
The bill states that “covered entities” must report to the U.S. Department of Labor any “artificial intelligence-related job impact” among their workforces no later than 30 days from the end of each quarter. A “covered entity” can refer to a federal agency, publicly traded company or a private company — although the Secretary of Labor must work with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Secretary of the Treasury to decide exactly which private companies qualify according to factors like workforce size, employment impact and enterprise value.
If the act is signed into law, applicable companies and agencies will need to provide quarterly data on the following:
- The number of employees laid off due to AI automating their roles.
- The number of employees hired due to AI integration.
- The number of roles that go unfilled or are entirely automated due to AI.
- The number of employees retrained in response to AI adoption.
The Department of Labor must then generate a report and analysis no later than 60 days after the end of the previous quarter in collaboration with the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. It must also publish the report on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website and share it with the U.S. Congress.
Why Is It Being Introduced Now?
Anxiety levels around AI are at an all-time high in the United States, especially when it comes to potential job losses. To justify the bill, Senator Hawley cited a prediction made by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in which AI could eliminate as many as half of entry-level white-collar jobs and cause unemployment to skyrocket up to 20 percent in the next five years. This trend has already convinced more young people to pivot to the skilled trades, rather than deal with the dicier career prospects now tied to a college degree.
At the same time, job cuts are happening at a rate not seen in decades. A 2025 report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that American companies cut 153,074 jobs in October — the highest total for October since 2003, and the highest for a single fourth-quarter month since 2008. To pour salt on the wound, AI was second only to “cost-cutting” as the reason given for job cuts in October, with the technology being attributed to 48,414 job cuts in 2025 so far. Entry-level positions seem to be particularly vulnerable, with unemployment rates among recent college graduates spiking to 5.8 percent in 2025.
Not all job losses can be blamed on AI, though. In fact, Yale researchers who studied AI’s impact on the labor market found that it has had practically no effect on jobs, at least for the time being. Of course, this hasn’t stopped AI from becoming the key culprit in mainstream discussions, making it all the more necessary to dig deeper and determine the true extent of its influence on the workforce.
“Good policy starts with good data. This bipartisan legislation will finally give us a clear picture of AI’s impact on the workforce — what jobs are being eliminated, which workers are being retrained, and where new opportunities are emerging,” said Senator Warner in a press release. “Armed with this information, we can make sure AI drives opportunity instead of leaving workers behind.”
What Could This Mean for Trump’s AI Strategy?
It is unclear exactly how Trump feels about the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act — he hasn’t made any public statements about it yet, nor have any major AI players. What we do know is that the president has been a big proponent of artificial intelligence throughout his second term, creating an AI Action Plan that depends on deregulation to expand America’s data center infrastructure and enable the nation to maintain its lead over China and other countries in the global AI race. He has also spent the last several months cultivating a close relationship between the federal government and big tech companies. And those companies have become influential voices in AI policymaking in their own right.
With all of that in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that AI industry leaders could influence Trump’s decision-making if this bill ultimately hits his desk. However, vetoing it could put Trump in a political bind that’s impossible to maneuver out of. Record-high investments in AI have coincided with a wave of mass layoffs at companies like Amazon, Meta and Google, intensifying concerns about the technology’s impact on employment. Sinking a bill that aims to monitor AI’s effects on the labor market could be seen as Trump siding with Big Tech at the expense of everyday Americans, potentially undermining his promise to provide more jobs and “put the American worker first.”
That said, this bill is still in its earliest stages. A lot could change before it makes its way through Congress, and the situation may look very different by the time it reaches the president — especially considering just how fast the AI industry is evolving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act?
The AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act aims to glean more insights into the kind of impact, if any, AI is having on the job market. By requiring agencies and companies to share quarterly data on their workforces, the government and the American public can gain a better sense of whether AI adoption is taking away job opportunities, creating job opportunities or both.
How have public attitudes about AI influenced this bill?
According to a Pew Research survey, an equal portion of Democrats and Republicans are now “more concerned than excited” about AI’s use in everyday life. This growing bipartisan concern, coupled with worst-case predictions on how AI could affect the job market, encouraged U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Josh Hawley to introduce this bill.
