AI layoffs are soaring, this non-profit raised $500m to retrain workers

As global tech layoffs see 892 people let go a day in 2026 so far, some of the biggest offenders, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon, are among the backers for a new initiative to retrain US workers displaced by AI-related job cuts.

The RAISE US non-profit launched June 25 with $500 million in committed “private and philanthropic capital” to develop training programmes and corporate incentives to "retrain and redeploy" workers.

The organisation is helmed by Biden Administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.

Raimondo said the US risked ‘automating its own decline’ with a disruptive transition to an AI economy: “We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either.”