AI Disrupts Workplaces, New Nonprofit Hopes To Aid Workers
The Associated Press reports that RAISE US, a new bipartisan nonprofit co-founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (Democrat) and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (Republican), launched June 25, 2026 with more than $500 million pledged for education and workforce training to help Americans displaced by AI. Anchor corporate partners include Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation, and Bank of America. The nonprofit will initially work with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah to pilot reskilling programs tied directly to employer hiring needs. An April BCG analysis cited by the AP estimated roughly half of US jobs will be reshaped by AI, with up to 25 million jobs potentially eliminated over five years; Goldman Sachs separately estimated a quarter of US work hours could be automated by AI.
What happened
The Associated Press (Josh Boak) reports that RAISE US, a new bipartisan nonprofit, launched June 25, 2026 with more than $500 million committed for new forms of education and workforce training for Americans disrupted by AI-driven automation. The group is co-founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat who shaped AI policy as Biden's commerce secretary, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican. Raimondo will serve as CEO.
Partners and structure
Anchor corporate partners include Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation, and Bank of America, along with UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, AMD, Cisco, and IBM. The advisory board includes former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, and economists David Autor, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Raj Chetty. Initial state partners are Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah, with the goal of connecting schools more directly to employer hiring pipelines.
Scale of the challenge
The AP reports an April BCG analysis estimated roughly half of US jobs will be reshaped by AI over the next several years, with up to 25 million jobs potentially eliminated over five years. Goldman Sachs separately estimated a quarter of US work hours could be automated. Per Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by the AP, manufacturing has shed 68,000 jobs and trucking has cut 28,300 positions since the start of the Trump second term.
Approach
RAISE US intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, and will explore changes to corporate taxes and other incentives aimed at keeping people working. Raimondo told the AP: "I don't have a lot of hope for bold action by Congress in the next few years on this issue, and I don't think we can wait a few years." The group plans to use state-level pilots as a testing ground for ideas Congress could later scale as policy.
Key Points
- 1RAISE US launched June 25 with $500M+ committed, co-led by Gina Raimondo and Eric Holcomb, with Anthropic and the OpenAI Foundation among anchor partners - one of the largest private AI workforce initiatives to date.
- 2BCG estimates up to 25 million US jobs could be eliminated by AI over five years; Goldman Sachs estimates a quarter of US work hours could be automated - backdrop for the nonprofit's urgency.
- 3The group will pilot employer-school reskilling programs in four states rather than waiting for federal legislation, with the intent that proven models influence future Congressional action.
Scoring Rationale
RAISE US is a substantive, well-funded bipartisan initiative with Anthropic and OpenAI Foundation as anchor partners - signals mainstream institutional acknowledgment of AI-driven labor displacement. Practical program details are still forthcoming, keeping the score below 7.0, but the scale ($500M+), the partner roster, and cross-aisle structure make this a notable workforce-policy development for practitioners tracking AI's societal footprint.
Sources
Primary source and supporting public references used for this report.
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