Key Takeaways Nearly 100 million U.S. jobs could be eliminated by AI and automation within the next decade, according to a Senate Democrats report. Fast food workers face 89% job displacement risk, ac...
Artificial intelligence and automation could eliminate nearly 100 million American jobs over the next decade, according to a sweeping report released Monday by Senate Democrats that paints a stark picture of technology's potential impact on the U.S. workforce.
The report, released by Senator Bernie Sanders and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, warns that the rise of what it terms "artificial labor" could reshape the American economy in less than ten years, threatening both white-collar and blue-collar professions across multiple industries.
According to a ChatGPT-based analysis included in the report, 89 percent of fast food and counter workers, 64 percent of accountants, and 47 percent of truck drivers could lose their jobs to automation within the next decade. The analysis projects that up to 97 million total jobs are at risk of being replaced.
Sanders, who serves as Ranking Member of the HELP Committee, issued a sharp warning about the motivations behind the rapid deployment of AI technologies.
"The same handful of oligarchs who have rigged our economy for decades, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and others, are now moving as fast as they can to replace human workers with what they call 'artificial labor,'" Sanders said in the report's release. "If we do not act, the result could be economic devastation for working people across this country."
Sanders elaborated: "Artificial intelligence and robotics being developed by these multi-billionaires today will allow corporate America to wipe out tens of millions of decent-paying jobs, cut labor costs and boost profits."
The report highlights that major corporations are already implementing AI-driven workforce reductions while maintaining robust profits.
Amazon, Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, and JPMorgan Chase are cited as companies openly informing investors that AI will enable them to reduce payrolls, even as they report tens of billions in profits and compensate CEOs with packages ranging from $25 million to $35 million or more.
The report also notes that AI companies themselves are marketing their products as labor replacement tools.
Firms like Salesforce and Artisan are advertising digital labor platforms designed to eliminate the need for human workers, while self-driving truck companies promote their technology as a solution to what they characterize as the "problem" of higher driver wages.
Democrats argue that the current trajectory of AI development is concentrating wealth and power rather than driving broad-based innovation.
The report outlines several policy proposals designed to ensure working families benefit from technological advancement:
Implementation of a 32-hour workweek with no reduction in pay.
Requirements for corporations to share profits with workers and provide them with board representation.
Expansion of employee ownership programs and creation of a U.S. Employee Ownership Bank.
A "robot tax" on corporations that replace human workers with automation.
Doubling union membership through passage of the PRO Act.
Guaranteed paid family and medical leave.
Restoration of defined benefit pensions.
"Working people built this country," Sanders concluded. "They deserve to benefit from new technology, not be thrown out on the street while billionaires get even richer."
The Democratic warnings place the party at odds with Republicans, who have argued that the United States should maintain global leadership in AI development.
Republican lawmakers have cautioned that excessive government regulation could stifle innovation and cede technological leadership to countries like China.
The report also criticizes the Trump administration's approach, stating that it has appointed AI executives to top policy positions, weakened labor protections, and terminated tens of thousands of federal workers in ways that could facilitate AI replacement of government jobs.
Sanders emphasized that widespread job displacement is not inevitable but rather represents policy choices. "Technology can and should improve the lives of working people," he said. "But it will not happen if decisions are made in boardrooms by billionaires who only care about short-term profits."
Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4.7, its most capable publicly available model to date, delivering significant improvements in advanced software engineering, high-resolution vision, and long-horizon agentic tasks.
Microsoft is reportedly exploring OpenClaw-style AI features for Copilot that could make the assistant more proactive inside Microsoft 365.
Meta launches Muse Spark, a closed proprietary AI model with tiered reasoning and 3B+ user reach across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Quest VR.
