California bans AI-driven worker firings and bathroom

California has passed sweeping legislation to restrict how employers can deploy artificial intelligence in the workplace, particularly around terminations and employee monitoring. Governor Gavin Newsom announced the new laws, which represent some of the nation's first protections giving workers explicit rights regarding AI use by their employers.

The legislation takes aim at companies using automated systems to make firing decisions or conduct workplace surveillance. Under the new rules, employers cannot rely solely on AI when deciding to discipline or terminate workers. Companies must also disclose whether mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations resulted from AI systems. The laws additionally ban surveillance technology in employee bathrooms and restrict lawyers from outsourcing core legal work, such as drafting briefs, entirely to AI systems.

Newsom framed the measures as essential guardrails as technology transforms how businesses operate. He emphasized that artificial intelligence should create opportunities rather than harm workers and families. The governor also criticized the incoming Trump administration's stance on industry self-regulation, calling recent statements on the topic inaccurate and arguing that stronger government oversight is necessary without federal action.

In a separate move, Newsom signed an executive order requiring California state agencies to continue using the term "artificial intelligence" rather than "super intelligence," rejecting a recent federal mandate. The governor has positioned California as a national leader on AI regulation, comparing the technology's potential risks to those posed by the aviation industry.

The new protections may have been prompted by documented cases of AI bias in hiring and layoff decisions. Meta faced employee complaints that the company deployed biased AI tools that disproportionately targeted workers who had taken medical leave during workforce reductions. Research from human resources professionals indicates that roughly one in four managers regularly rely on AI to determine which employees to cut.