AI Giants Fund $500M RAISE US Initiative to Retrain Workers Facing AI-Driven Job Displacement
11 Sources
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AI giants back non-profit to retrain workers left behind by AI
AI-POCALYPSE Several leading US AI companies joined with former US government officials on Thursday to form a bipartisan coalition focused on helping to prepare workers for the AI tsunami, even as many companies seem to be in a race to see who can replace human workers the fastest. Founded by
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Big Companies Aim to Ease A.I. Transition for American Workers
OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon and Microsoft have signed on to an effort led by Gina Raimondo, a former commerce secretary. Congress has failed to address the work force disruption that artificial intelligence could generate. The White House, excited about the upside for stocks and investment, has
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RAISE US: AI giants back a $500m worker retraining push
OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon and Microsoft are bankrolling a new nonprofit to retrain American workers for the AI economy. RAISE US, led by Gina Raimondo, has already raised more than $500m. The biggest names in AI agree on at least one thing. The technology they are building could upend the American
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Amazon and Microsoft join new nonprofit's push to help American workers navigate the AI economy
Amazon, Microsoft and other leading tech companies are joining a new nonpartisan workforce organization launched Thursday aimed at helping American workers navigate the transition to an AI-driven economy. RAISE US aims to partner with governors, employers, and training organizations to retrain and
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Everyone is worried about AI killing jobs. She's testing a fix-it plan.
Gina Raimondo is leading a broad coalition to fight AI steamrolling through the job market. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post) Gina Raimondo says her family never fully recovered after her father lost his Bulova watch factory job in the 1980s to economic forces beyond his control. Decades
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'Changing jobs no longer means financial ruin': AI giants and government join forces to train US workforce to not go obsolete in the age of AI
* American companies are backing a worker retraining scheme * AI is expected to displace millions of workers while creating new roles * Partners promise to retrain and redeploy workers instead of simply laying them off Many of the US' biggest firms and AI influencers, including Amazon,
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Anthropic joins Sec. Gina Raimondo's AI labor efforts
Why it matters: Competing AI labs are coming together to fund an effort aimed at addressing the labor market hit that their own technology could cause. The big picture: Several tech companies have launched initiatives aimed at recruiting and training blue-collar workers who can facilitate data
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One of the Democratic Party's brightest stars is co-founding a group to help with the coming AI jobs earthquake | Fortune
Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs. A new bipartisan nonprofit hopes to ensure that America can realize the economic gains promised by AI without its workers
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Adapting the American workforce to the AI era is this nonprofit's aim. Here's how they're doing it
The programs will first start in Arkansas, Maryland, Utah and Connecticut The nonprofit is initially partnering with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, along with several of America's largest companies and charitable organizations. The group intends to develop policies that
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AI Is Plowing Through the Workplace. This New Group Wants to Help People Adapt and Have Jobs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America has been rushing into an artificial intelligence future without much of a plan to stop what could be catastrophic job losses. Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too
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AI is plowing through the workplace. This new group wants to help people adapt and have jobs
A newly formed bipartisan nonprofit named RAISE US is set to launch with over $500 million aimed at tackling job losses anticipated from artificial intelligence advancements. Co-founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and ex-Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, this organisation plans to
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Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic have joined forces to fund RAISE US, a new nonprofit led by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that aims to help American workers navigate the AI transition. With over $500 million already secured toward a $1 billion goal, the initiative will pilot workforce programs across multiple states to address AI-driven job displacement.
AI Giants Unite Behind Ambitious Worker Retraining Initiative
Fierce competitors in the AI race have set aside their rivalry to address a looming crisis. Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic are anchor partners in RAISE US, a new nonprofit designed to help the AI workforce navigate sweeping technological change
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. Led by former US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, the bipartisan coalition has already raised more than $500 million toward a $1 billion multi-year commitment goal3
. The initiative launches with backing from over two dozen major companies and foundations, including Bank of America, IBM, Mastercard, and the Rockefeller Foundation4
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Source: GeekWire
The timing reflects mounting anxiety about AI's impact on employment. Some of the very companies funding RAISE US have already cited AI in recent layoffs—Amazon eliminated 14,000 jobs last fall, while Microsoft ousted approximately 9,000 employees last July
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. "America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy, and we cannot lead without one," Raimondo stated1
. "If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won't have won anything; we'll have automated our own decline."Testing Solutions to Workforce Disruption Caused by AI
Source: TechRadar
RAISE US will focus on four core areas: state workforce policy and programs, employer-driven worker transition plans, worker education and reskilling models, and policy recommendations
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. The strategy runs through state capitals, starting with governors in Utah, Arkansas, Maryland, and Connecticut—a deliberately bipartisan mix3
. States control community colleges, credentialing systems, and corporate incentives, making them natural testing grounds for pilot programs addressing the AI transition for American workers.The bulk of the budget will fund these experiments, overseen by approximately 15 staff members and consultants
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. In Maryland, RAISE US will establish a "service year" for recent high school graduates to provide experience in fields with labor shortages, such as health care2
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. Arkansas will receive support for an AI-powered career navigation platform called Arkansas LAUNCH3
. Other states will test wage insurance programs for workers who accept lower-paying positions rather than exiting the labor force entirely2
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.Microsoft has already identified a promising model for internal worker retraining. The company cross-trains entry-level lawyers across different business units and equips them with AI skills, allowing them to be repositioned as roles evolve
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. "You can think of doing that with almost any job we have," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chair and president2
. "It creates an opportunity to transfer people from jobs that are being eliminated to jobs that are being created."Job Market Shifts Signal Urgent Need for Action
Source: The Register
The societal impact of AI on employment is already visible in hiring data. According to venture capital firm SignalFire, tech hiring stands at 25 percent below pre-pandemic levels on a 12-month trailing basis
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. Designers have been hit hardest, with hiring down 48 percent at major tech companies and 22 percent at startups. Marketing roles declined 36 percent at large organizations and 18 percent at startups, while product manager positions dropped 39 percent at tech giants1
.The crisis is most acute for early-career professionals. In 2016, approximately 22 percent of new hires at major tech companies had one year or less of experience. Today, that figure has plummeted to just eight percent. At startups, inexperienced workers accounted for 15 percent of new hires a decade ago but represent only three percent today
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. "By eliminating its new grad pipeline to optimize current balance sheets, the tech industry could face a severe leadership vacuum over the next decade," SignalFire warned1
.Estimates of AI-driven job displacement vary wildly, from half of all entry-level white-collar positions to scattered thousands
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. Worker sentiment toward AI has been worsening according to Glassdoor data, even as overall layoffs remain low across the economy2
. Meanwhile, Congress has failed to address workforce disruption, and the White House has downplayed potential widespread job losses2
.Related Stories
Challenges Ahead for Navigate the AI Economy Efforts
RAISE US enters a crowded field where past worker retraining efforts have largely failed. Raimondo herself called previous programs "ineffective"
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. Congress has slashed funding for its flagship workforce development law since passing it in 1973, and research shows federal programs have limited long-term success due to the scarcity of high-paying positions for workers without college degrees2
.The organization's structure attempts to address concerns about corporate influence. RAISE US includes a policy lab funded by philanthropies rather than companies, designed to keep policy recommendations independent from corporate sponsors
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. Raimondo emphasized the initiative's independence: "It's the first one I know of where competitors in the tech industry have put aside their competition to say, 'We're going to write big checks and, in the service of our country, do what we can to figure out this transition'"2
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.Amazon defended its participation by citing existing investments, including its Career Choice program that has helped more than 300,000 employees earn degrees and certificates over 14 years, and a $2.5 billion Future Ready 2030 initiative
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. "The transition to an AI-driven economy will create enormous opportunity, but only if we invest now in helping workers develop the skills to seize it," wrote David Zapolsky, Amazon's Chief Global Affairs & Legal Officer4
.Raimondo warned that technology and business executives will face severe consequences if they replace mass numbers of employees with AI. "Most companies will be very hurt by a populist revolt or political violence that this would cause," she said
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. With at least 180 state bills introduced this year to regulate AI use in workplaces or address technology-related job losses, the pressure to find effective solutions continues to mount.References
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