New bipartisan bill would require companies to report job losses due to AI

A new bipartisan bill aims to provide a “clear picture” of how artificial intelligence is impacting the U.S. workforce.

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, announced the AI ​​Jobs Impact Clarification Act on Wednesday. It would require publicly traded companies, some private companies, and federal agencies to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Labor detailing employee job losses, new hires, job cuts, and other significant changes due to the impact of AI.

The data will then be compiled into a report made publicly available by the Department of Labor.

“This bipartisan bill will finally provide clarity on how AI will impact the workforce,” Warner said in a statement. “With this information, we can ensure that AI drives opportunity rather than leaving workers behind.”

The bill comes as politicians, labor advocates and some business owners have sounded the alarm in recent years about the potential for widespread job losses due to AI.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in May that the AI ​​tools his company and others are building could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and cause unemployment to spike by as much as 20% over the next one to five years. Anthropic creates chatbot Claude.

Job cuts have been announced recently at companies in the tech, retail, automotive and shipping industries, with executives citing a myriad of reasons, from AI and tariffs to changing business priorities and broader cost-cutting efforts. Staff reductions announced Amazon, UPS and target The number of rolls totaled over 60,000 last month.

Some experts say companies may be using AI to mask concerns about the economy, business missteps or cost-cutting plans, and question whether AI is entirely to blame for layoffs.

WATCH: Is AI behind the recent layoffs? Here’s what you need to know