California bans AI-only firings, brain-data collection in new workplace laws

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a suite of laws on Thursday banning employers from using AI alone to fire workers, predict emotional states, or collect neural data, while requiring layoff notifications and prohibiting AI surveillance in bathrooms. The regulations, among the first sweeping workplace AI rules in the US, respond to worker fears about job loss, discrimination, and surveillance, with unions and advocates pushing for them amid federal inaction. California, home to major AI firms, sets a potential national precedent. Other states like Colorado and Texas have passed narrower AI workplace laws, but California’s lack private enforcement, meaning only the government can sue. Worker advocates see this as a starting point, while opponents worry about unintended limits on beneficial AI uses.