California Labor’s AI Bills Pass First House Vote, Despite Major Big Tech, Corporate Business Opposition

Release Date: May 27, 2026

Media Contact: Shubhangi Domokos, [email protected]

California Labor's AI Bills Pass First House Vote, Despite Major Big Tech, Corporate Business Opposition

Sacramento, CA - (Wednesday, May 27, 2026) - Today, the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO package of sponsored bills that would establish first-in-the-nation guardrails on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace have successfully passed out of their house of origin - the bills' first major legislative vote - marking a significant milestone in the legislative process.

"Today, California lawmakers are siding with working people, Pope Leo XIV, and the California Labor Movement over Big Tech," said Lorena Gonzalez, President of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO. "California Labor's fight to preserve jobs and the dignity of work continues."

Gonzalez cites Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, released on Monday, May 25 which focuses on the moral and practical danger of unregulated artificial intelligence (AI). Pope Leo XIV writes: "The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good."

Today, the California State Assembly passed the Federation's following sponsored bills aimed at providing critical guardrails against Big Tech's aggressively anti-worker AI agenda:

• AB 1883, "Stop AI Strip Searches," by Asm. Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, bans the use of invasive and exploitative AI surveillance tools in the workplace, such as walking pattern recognition or brainwave monitoring.
• AB 2564, "Ban Surveillance Pricing," by Asm. Chris Ward, D-San Diego, prohibits "surveillance pricing" when a company uses personal data about a consumer-like search history, credit history, health conditions, or income-to set the price or discount for a product. This bill protects affordability and fair pricing.
• AB 2575, "Health Care by Humans Act," by Asm. Liz Ortega, D-Hayward, regulates AI to ensure that human health care workers can exercise their clinical, professional judgment in patient care.

Over the past week, the State Senate passed the Federation's following sponsored AI legislation:

• SB 928, "No Robot Faculty," by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, bans California universities and colleges from replacing faculty with artificial intelligence.
• SB 947, "No Robot Bosses Act," by Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, bans employers from using AI to make employee discipline or termination decisions without human oversight.
• SB 951, "AI Job Killer Notice," by Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, D-San Bernardino, requires employers to give workers advance notice of plans to lay them off due to AI replacement.
• SB 1011, by Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, ensures that a human being retains oversight of the state's electrical and gas infrastructure.

The Federation has made taking on AI and Big Tech Billionaires the central priority of its 2026 legislative agenda. The Federation's sponsored bills on AI guardrails passed out of their respective house of origin, despite intense opposition from corporate lobbyists and Big Tech. The deadline for each house in the Legislature to pass legislation introduced in that house is May 29, 2026.

For more information, or to set up an interview with Lorena Gonzalez to discuss this package of AI legislation, please contact Shubhangi Domokos, [email protected], 916-934-6963.

The California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO represents over 1,300 affiliated unions in California with over 2.3 million union members in trucking, retail, hospitality, janitorial, construction, health care, local and state government, education, arts and entertainment, warehousing and logistics, manufacturing, and every other sector of the economy.

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