Silicon Valley executives and organized labor descended on Washington in the final week of March 2026 with opposing agendas, staging dueling events that laid bare the political fault line over artificial intelligence and employment. A tech industry summit funded by OpenAI and Alphabet drew corporate leaders and Trump administration officials to celebrate AI's economic promise. Two days later, the AFL-CIO convened labor leaders and progressive lawmakers in a nearby hotel ballroom to strategize against AI-driven workforce displacement.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler framed the divide in stark terms. "We're fed up with the focus on the tech companies, which are in full view right now, basically running our government," Shuler said at the labor gathering.
The federation launched what it called a Workers First AI Summit, aimed at establishing principles for worker-centered AI innovation. The California Labor Federation, led by President Lorena Gonzalez, plans to place roughly two dozen bills on Governor Gavin Newsom's desk addressing AI in the workplace, including limits on predictive AI use by managers, advance notice requirements for AI-related layoffs, and restrictions on workplace surveillance.
The urgency reflects mounting job losses. More than 45,000 tech workers were laid off in March 2026, with 9,238 of those reductions explicitly linked to AI and automation by the companies themselves. Block cut its workforce from approximately 10,000 to fewer than 6,000 employees. WiseTech Global eliminated 2,000 positions. eBay, Pinterest, and Cisco each announced hundreds of additional cuts. If the current pace holds, total tech layoffs could reach 264,730 by year-end, surpassing the 245,000 recorded in 2025.
On Capitol Hill, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act on March 25, which would halt construction of AI data centers until Congress enacts workforce and environmental protections.
The bill would require union labor in data center construction and prohibit utility rate increases tied to AI infrastructure. Separately, Senators Mark Warner and Mike Rounds introduced a bipartisan Economy of the Future Commission Act to develop recommendations on reskilling programs and unemployment insurance for automation-affected workers.
The Trump administration has moved in the opposite direction. The White House released a National AI Legislative Framework on March 20 that prioritizes federal preemption of state AI regulations and calls for regulatory sandboxes to accelerate innovation. Tech companies plan to spend a combined $650 billion on AI infrastructure this year. The administration has attracted commitments exceeding $2.7 trillion in AI-related investment.
The International Longshoremen's Association and the Screen Actors Guild have secured contract provisions limiting AI displacement, but most American workers lack comparable protections.
