Exclusive: California lawmaker warns government isn't prepared for AI's impact on workers

What they're saying: "Just telling people, 'Oh, don't worry, we'll retrain you,' to a 53-year-old accountant whose job has just evaporated, that's a tough thing," Wiener told Axios' Ashley Gold at Axios' AI+ Summit in San Francisco.

• "Human beings were not, in my view, designed to just not do anything. And while some people whose jobs are phased out, even if they have some level of income, will go on to do creative, great things, it can lead to other societal problems," he said.
• "So that is, it's a huge issue, it's one that we have not grappled with, and it's happening really fast."

As for whether tech and AI policy will be part of his campaign for Pelosi's seat, Wiener said he believes it's "something that people care about" to an extent.

• "It is not the same intensity as [the] cost of housing and cost of health care and secret police grabbing your neighbors and sending them to gulags in El Salvador."
• "Those things resonate at probably a more intense level. But people still care, even though it might not always be the thing they're voting on," Wiener said.

Context: Wiener authored a major California AI bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this year to mandate transparency measures from frontier AI companies.

• The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act requires large AI developers to make public disclosures about safety protocols and report safety incidents.
• It also creates whistleblower protections and expands cloud computing access for smaller developers and researchers.
• "In the absence of federal action, I think there's an awareness that California has a huge role to play," he said.

State of play: The law has major implications for the country's biggest AI players — and underscores the appetite to regulate the technology at the state level.

• President Trump has called for a ban on state AI laws and regulations, and the White House and Republican leaders have scrambled, so far unsuccessfully, to comply.