Tech giants back $500M push to retrain American workers

That thinking is gaining traction more broadly. 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 data behind how employers are managing AI-driven workforce change tells a more nuanced story than the headlines suggest.

The picture from SHRM’s 2026 State of AI in HR report adds useful texture. Among organizations where AI has been deployed, 57% of HR professionals reported frequent upskilling or reskilling opportunities for employees, 39% reported shifts in job responsibilities, and just 7% reported job displacement. At the same time, 92% of CHROs anticipate AI will be further integrated into the workforce this year, with 87% forecasting greater adoption within HR processes, up from 83% in 2025. The pace of change is putting real pressure on workforce planning at every level.

A state-by-state strategy

RAISE US will work with governors in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah as a starting point, a deliberately bipartisan mix of states. The theory is straightforward. States control community colleges, credentialing systems, and business incentives, and those levers most directly determine whether employers retrain workers or let them go.

In Arkansas, the group is backing an AI-powered career navigation platform called Arkansas LAUNCH. In Maryland, the initiative will expand a “service year” for recent high school graduates to build experience in fields with labor shortages, including health care. A lean team of roughly 15 staff and consultants will oversee the pilot programs.

The organization also runs a policy lab funded by philanthropies rather than corporations, a structural choice designed to keep its recommendations independent from its corporate sponsors. Full details on the structure and anchor partners are in the RAISE US launch statement via the Rockefeller Foundation.