New bill introduced in the Senate would require US companies to report AI layoffs

U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) have proposed new legislation that would require companies to report layoffs related to artificial intelligence (AI). The bill, introduced in the Senate this week, would require major U.S. companies and federal agencies to report AI-related employment data to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and then make that information publicly available. Hawley wrote in a blog post: “Act for clarifying the impact of AI-related work” will do “Requires major companies and federal agencies to report AI-related employment impacts, including layoffs and layoffs, to the DOL on a quarterly basis.” If so, which one will it be? “Compile data on AI-related employment impacts and present a report to Congress and the public.”The bill, referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, currently requires only publicly traded companies to report data to the DOL. However, it also includes a provision directing regulators to determine how private companies can be subject to similar reporting rules, suggesting that similar requirements may eventually apply.

Regarding the proposed AI bill, Hawley said: “American workers are already being replaced by artificial intelligence, and experts predict that AI could drive up unemployment by up to 10% to 20% over the next five years. Americans need to understand exactly how AI is impacting the workforce so they can be sure it’s working for them and not the other way around.”“Good policy starts with good data, and this bipartisan bill will ultimately give us a clear picture of the impact AI will have on the workforce – which jobs will be eliminated, which workers will be retrained, and where new opportunities will be created. Armed with this information, we can ensure that AI advances opportunity rather than leaving workers behind.” Warner added.Hawley and Warner cited Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s warnings that AI could eliminate up to half of entry-level, white-collar jobs and increase the unemployment rate to 10% to 20% within five years, as well as other predictions about AI’s impact on the workplace, as motivations for the proposed bill, according to the Axios report.The bipartisan bill reflects growing concerns in Congress about the impact AI will have on American jobs, even as the Trump administration promotes AI technology as essential to maintaining America’s economic competitiveness.Layoffs have surged in 2025, especially in the warehousing and technology sectors, as AI and automation drive significant headcount reductions. U.S. employers cut 153,074 jobs in October, an increase of 175% from a year earlier and 183% from the previous month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Analysts said this was the highest October total in more than two decades and said the trend was linked to disruptive technologies such as AI. Meanwhile, Henry Win Chiu, employment trends researcher at Revealera, reported that the number of global job openings fell by 8%, with creative occupations such as computer graphics, photography and writing accounting for more than 28%. At the same time, the demand for machine learning engineers continued to grow.Separately, Warner and Hawley recently introduced another bill that would ban AI chatbots aimed at children. These lawmakers are calling for more data on how AI is impacting jobs, as companies increasingly cite AI technology as a factor in widespread layoffs.