RAISE US Launches with $500M to Help Workers Adapt to AI

In an unprecedented display of bipartisan cooperation, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb have launched RAISE US, a nonprofit organization with over $500 million in committed funding to help American workers adapt to the rapidly evolving AI economy. The initiative brings together rival AI companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, Amazon, and Microsoft, alongside major employers like Bank of America, General Motors, and IBM, in a coordinated effort to prevent what many fear could be catastrophic job losses.

"We're talking about a certain level of unemployment that could destabilize our country and our democracy," Raimondo told the Associated Press in an interview. "If you want to lead the world in AI, you have to take action to make sure our democracy doesn't crumble."

The launch comes at a critical moment. According to a Boston Consulting Group analysis, roughly half of U.S. jobs will be reshaped by AI over the next few years, with as many as 25 million jobs potentially eliminated over the next five years. Goldman Sachs separately estimated that a quarter of U.S. work hours could be automated by AI.

RAISE US plans to deploy its initial $500 million over three to four years while continuing to fundraise with a target of $1 billion in total donations. The organization will work directly with state governments rather than the federal government, testing policies and programs that can serve as models for national action.

The Crisis: Why AI Demands Urgent Action

America has been rushing into an artificial intelligence future without much of a plan to stop what could be catastrophic job losses. Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs.

Gina Raimondo's personal connection to this issue runs deep. Her family never fully recovered after her father lost his Bulova watch factory job in the 1980s to economic forces beyond his control. Decades later, she is determined to prevent AI from inflicting similar pain on families across the country.

The scale of the potential disruption is staggering. Beyond just factories and offices, AI could fill roads with driverless trucks, create factories staffed by robots, and supplant office workers, lawyers, and doctors. The transformation is happening faster than any institution can respond.

Vivienne Ming, a neuroscientist who has written extensively on the future of work, warned that AI is now disrupting multiple sectors simultaneously, faster than any institution can respond. She noted that neither the education system nor labor policies are building the foundational human capital that AI-era work actually requires.

The economic anxiety is already visible in public sentiment. Raimondo noted that opposition to AI seems to be growing by the day, and America is an outlier compared to Europe, Africa, China, and Asia in terms of negative public sentiment toward AI. This opposition is driven largely by concerns about job security.

The Initiative: RAISE US by the Numbers

RAISE US is launching with substantial financial backing and ambitious goals. The numbers tell the story of an organization that is serious about making an impact:

The organization's initial $500 million comes from a coalition of AI companies, major corporations, and philanthropies. It plans to spend this over three to four years while continuing to fundraise with a target of $1 billion in total donations. Holcomb predicted the goal may not be sufficient as the nonprofit expands to more states.

"We can scale up as well over time, but I'll just be frank, a billion dollars wouldn't be enough to affect the need that is out there," Holcomb said. "That just shows you how big the issue is."

RAISE US is also establishing an internal policy lab that will not accept corporate money, ensuring the independence of its research and recommendations.

The Leaders: An Unlikely Bipartisan Alliance

The leadership of RAISE US reflects its bipartisan mission. Co-chairs Gina Raimondo and Eric Holcomb represent a coalition that spans the political spectrum.

Gina Raimondo, the former Democratic governor of Rhode Island, played a formative role in setting AI policy as the Biden administration's commerce secretary. She was instrumental in shaping the CHIPS Act and has been deeply engaged in AI policy for years.

Raimondo estimates that to educate herself about AI's effects on the labor market and economy, she has had 300 conversations in the past year with members of Congress, governors, college presidents, economists, small-business owners, AI executives, and business leaders.

Eric Holcomb, the former Republican governor of Indiana, made workforce development the centerpiece of his administration that helped train Hoosiers in every corner of the state.

"This isn't red versus blue; it's an all-hands-on-deck moment," Holcomb said.

The advisory board includes a who's who of American power and influence:

This advisory board reflects a strategic decision to include not just corporate interests but also labor, academic, and philanthropic perspectives. The involvement of AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler is particularly significant, signaling that organized labor is engaged in shaping the AI transition rather than just reacting to it.

The Partners: Rivals Unite

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of RAISE US is the coalition of corporate partners it has assembled. Competing AI labs are coming together to fund an effort aimed at addressing the labor market hit that their own technology could cause.

Anchor Partners:

Additional Partners: UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, ADP, and Deloitte are also involved.

This coalition is unprecedented. Raimondo described it as "an independent effort" and "the first one I know of where competitors in the tech industry have put aside their competition to say, 'We're going to write big checks and, in the service of our country, do what we can to figure out this transition.'"

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has repeatedly expressed concerns that AI could cause a "white-collar bloodbath," making the company's participation particularly notable.

Justin Spelhaug, president of Microsoft Elevate, said in a statement that "No single company or sector can solve the workforce challenges." David Zapolsky, Amazon's chief global affairs and legal officer, added this program is how you "make this transition work for everyone, not just a few."

Microsoft has been testing a retention model worth attention: rather than eliminating entry-level legal roles as AI changes the function, the company has been cross-training those workers across different parts of the organization and building their AI skills so they can be repositioned as the technology evolves. "You can think of doing that with almost any job we have," said Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft.

According to EY's U.S. AI Pulse Survey, 38% of employers that have invested in and benefited from AI are reinvesting those productivity gains into upskilling and reskilling their existing employees, rather than simply cutting headcount.

The Pilots: Four States, Four Approaches

RAISE US is initially partnering with four states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah—an equal division of deep red and blue states.

These four states are "out front nationally in preparing for the AI economy," according to RAISE US.

The pilots are designed to test different approaches to workforce transition:

• Arkansas: The group is backing an AI-powered career navigation platform called Arkansas LAUNCH that helps direct and prepare people for roles employers want to fill.
• Maryland: The initiative will expand a "service year" for recent high school graduates to build experience in fields with labor shortages, including healthcare. This Peace Corps-style program provides work experience to young people, a group that may be in the first wave of AI-influenced job struggles.
• Utah and Connecticut: Additional details on their specific pilots are forthcoming, but they will also focus on connecting schools more closely to employers and exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives.

The organization intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, so that layoffs can be replaced by the potential for new jobs with higher incomes. They are also exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives with the goal of keeping people working.

Other pilots being considered include wage insurance, incentives for companies to retrain workers instead of laying them off, AI-powered career coaching, short-term credential programs, and a startup accelerator for displaced workers learning how to start their own businesses.

Raimondo emphasized the importance of the state-level approach: "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. I also think there are many examples in history that when the federal government does take action, they will look around at what has been working in states."

The Skepticism: Can This Really Work?

Not everyone is convinced that RAISE US will deliver on its ambitious promises. Analysts have expressed skepticism about the initiative's potential impact and its motivations.

Jason Andersen, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said the organization's initial communications are "more marketing and posturing than strategy and action." He also noted that "it does not help that there are many CEOs involved who have already displaced thousands of workers due to AI."

Technology analyst Carmi Levy described Raise Us as "possibly the highest-profile example of AI-washing thus far, a well-intentioned but ultimately futile attempt to illustrate that something is being done to cut through the uncertainty and empower the workforce of tomorrow."

Levy noted that since many of the same companies have already had multiple rounds of tech-driven layoffs, "It's more than a little rich for them to be joining an initiative whose mission revolves around protecting workers from the worst risks associated with AI." However, he added, "If Raise Us can deliver on its lofty promises, it could be an important first step in the great AI workforce transition."

Workforce retraining has a troubled track record. Raimondo herself has called past federal efforts "ineffective," and research consistently shows that long-term outcomes are constrained by the limited availability of high-paying positions for workers without college degrees.

A recent study of 23 million participants in federal workforce programs found that retraining rarely moved workers into less automation-exposed jobs.

Jack Clark, co-founder and head of public benefit at Anthropic, didn't sidestep the uncertainty. "AI is going to change the economy in ways that are hard to anticipate," Clark said.

Despite the skepticism, the scale of the challenge is already visible. The Bipartisan Policy Center's AI Skills Dashboard found that U.S. job postings requiring AI skills grew 144% year over year as of April 2026.

Raimondo is realistic about the challenges. "I guarantee you they're going to look at our pilots," she said of future federal action. "Or I could fail."

The Vision: A New Social Contract for the AI Era

RAISE US represents an attempt to create a new social contract for the AI era. The former governors argue that key U.S. institutions and programs need to be overhauled for a workforce facing rapid technological change.

The country's schools are failing to produce enough workers with the skills employers demand, and unemployment insurance was not designed for an economy where people may need to switch careers repeatedly.

Holcomb's philosophy is simple: "Good things tend to happen when you convert have-nots into haves."

The organization's leaders see their work as a model for future federal action. Raimondo imagines that this White House or the next looks to RAISE US for proven playbooks if AI starts to spike unemployment.

RAISE US also reflects a recognition that the tech industry's self-interest aligns with workforce protection. Raimondo has warned technology and business executives that they will face huge blowback if they replace mass numbers of employees with AI. "Most companies will be very hurt by a populist revolt or political violence that this would cause," she said.

Raimondo has pointed to the Committee for Economic Development, a business coalition formed in 1942 to plan for the reabsorption of American soldiers into a peacetime economy, as a model for what private-sector coordination can achieve when government is too slow to act.

Whether $500 million and a handful of state pilots can blunt a disruption of this magnitude is the question RAISE US now has to answer. But the launch itself sends a clear message: the companies building this technology aren't willing to leave the workforce transition entirely to chance.

Raimondo's vision extends beyond the organization's immediate mission. She said she hopes RAISE US will inject some hard data into the debate over what to do about the potential impacts of AI on American workers.

For now, RAISE US is a bet that the private sector can act where government cannot, and that competitors can collaborate to solve problems they have helped create. The stakes could not be higher. As Raimondo put it: "If you don't have a transition plan for the people, it won't go well."