Holcomb Launches Group To Ease Workforce Ai Transition With $500M Backing

Oh, marvellous — just when you thought the response to AI-driven job displacement couldn't get more predictably timid, along comes RAISE US, a $500 million task force co-chaired by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The group's grand mission, as announced, is to "fund and pilot policies to reorient workers to an AI economy." That's bureaucrat-speak for "commission a few studies and hope for the best." $500 million in multi-year commitments sounds generous until you realise that Oracle alone spent more on severance last year, and they didn't need a catchy acronym. But hey, at least we have a logo.

The timing is impeccable. With tech companies laying off workers en masse and the government still debating whether AI is a security threat or a windfall, a multi-year committee is exactly the bold action needed. RAISE US promises "pilot policies" — the Washington equivalent of a homeopathy clinic for a pandemic. Because nothing says "urgent response to mass layoffs" like "let's deliberate and pilot a programme in one state."

One can only hope that RAISE US proves more efficient than the average commission. Realistically, the first two years will be spent defining "reorient," the next two on a website, and the final year on a press release celebrating "lessons learned." And if this $500 million runs out, there's always another task force. They're cheap to form and impossible to dissolve.