The companies most likely to automate your job are now funding a $1 billion program to retrain you

Former US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has launched “Raise Us,” a bipartisan nonprofit to prepare American workers for AI-driven job shifts. Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and the OpenAI Foundation are jointly funding the initiative—a first.

Raimondo will serve as CEO. For perspective, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta plan to spend a combined $725 billion on AI this year alone. “America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy—and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo said at the launch. “If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline.”Ad The organization plans to create new corporate incentives for retraining and retention, launch pilot programs with governors, and adapt training models to match shifting employer needs. Success will be measured by whether workers land and keep stable, well-paying jobs.AdDEC_D_Incontent-1 AI rivals jointly fund a workforce initiative for the first time What stands out about Raise Us is who’s paying for it. According to the announcement, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and the OpenAI Foundation are all backing the initiative. Raimondo says it’s the first time leading AI developers have jointly funded an independent initiative to support workforce transitions. Bank of America is the lead sponsor, funding an apprenticeship program for advanced manufacturing. Other backers include ADP, AMD, Autodesk, Blackstone, Cisco, Cognizant, Deloitte, Eli Lilly, General Motors, IBM, Mastercard, ServiceNow, UPS, and Workday. On the philanthropic side: the Rockefeller Foundation, Arnold Ventures, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation. Raise Us aims to collect $1 billion in multi-year pledges. The New York Times reports that $500 million is already locked in.Ad The funding structure raises obvious questions about independence. Many of the companies involved profit directly from the rapid spread of AI or are actively pushing it forward.