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Posted inLocal News

‘Be on the right side of history’: Unions push Newsom to regulate AI amid presidential bid

by Khari Johnson, CalMatters February 5, 2026February 4, 2026

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Unions are trying to push the governor, who has hesitated to regulate AI, to take a stronger stand against the technology. Flanked by labor advocates, former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions AFL-CIO, addresses the media during a news conference on the impact of AI on labor in Sacramento on Feb. 4, 2026. (Fred Greaves for CalMatters)

IF GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT of the United States then he must address artificial intelligence’s impact on workers. That’s the message sent in Sacramento on Wednesday by members of the AFL-CIO, a union with a combined 2.3 million members. 

In attendance at a news conference, held steps from the California state capitol, were AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez, and the heads of five state labor federations, including from traditional early primary states like Iowa and states vying for earlier spots in the primary state calendar like Georgia and North Carolina.

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Tagged: 2028 presidential election, AFL-CIO, AI, Anthropic, artificial intelligence, California Labor Federation, CalMatters, Election 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom, labor unions, OpenAI, politics, President Donald Trump, Technology policy, worker protections, workers rights, workplace regulation
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