A new bipartisan nonprofit called RAISE US officially launched this week with more than $500 million in initial funding, positioning itself as a critical bridge between the AI revolution and American workers facing potential mass displacement. The organization was co-founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat who helped shape Biden-era AI policy, and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican. Together they represent an unusual bipartisan alignment on an issue that could define the next decade of economic disruption.
The Scale of Disruption
The urgency behind RAISE US stems from alarming workforce projections. A Boston Consulting Group analysis estimated that roughly half of all U.S. jobs will be fundamentally reshaped by AI within the next several years, with as many as 25 million positions potentially eliminated domestically over that timeframe. Goldman Sachs separately projected that a quarter of American work hours could be automated by artificial intelligence. These numbers aren't hypothetical edge casesβthey represent a structural transformation affecting factories, trucking routes, legal offices, medical practices and virtually every knowledge-work sector.
Anchor Partners and Initial Pilots
The initiative has secured commitments from some of the most powerful names in technology and finance. Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation and Bank of America are serving as anchor corporate partners, alongside UPS, General Motors, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, AMD, Cisco and IBM. RAISE US will pilot programs initially in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, working directly with state officials to develop models that connect educational institutions more tightly to employer needs. The goal is creating pathways from layoffs into higher-paying roles rather than prolonged unemployment.
Advisory Board Reads Like a Power List
Raimondo will serve as CEO of the nonprofit, bringing her experience from the Commerce Department. The advisory board reads like a who's who of American power structures: former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, billionaire investment manager Stephen Schwarzman, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, and economists David Autor, Erik Brynjolfsson and Raj Chetty. This unusual coalition spans from free-market conservatives to organized labor, reflecting the bipartisan anxiety that AI-driven job losses could destabilize both economy and democracy if left unaddressed.
Education Systems 'Not Built for This'
Neuroscientist Vivienne Ming, author of "Robot-Proof: When Machines Have all the Answers, Build Better People," offered a stark assessment of current readiness. 'AI is now disrupting multiple sectors simultaneously, faster than any institution can respond,' she told AP. Ming argued that neither existing education systems nor labor policies are building the foundational human capital that AI-era work actually requiresβskills like curiosity and intellectual flexibility that go beyond traditional vocational training. The wealth generated by AI could theoretically create demand for more workers, but only if people develop capabilities that complement rather than compete with machine intelligence.
Trump Administration Takes a Different View
President Donald Trump's administration has expressed far less concern about AI displacement. During a Tuesday visit to a Mack Trucks factory in Pennsylvania, Trump told reporters that truckers aren't currently losing jobs to artificial intelligence and pointed to data center construction as economic drivers. However, manufacturing has shed 68,000 positions while trucking transportation cut 28,300 jobs since the start of his second term, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. Raimondo acknowledged limited hope for bold Congressional action in the near term but argued states could serve as policy laboratories that eventually inform federal changes.
The Road Ahead
RAISE US plans to explore corporate tax incentives and other mechanisms designed to keep workers employed rather than on unemployment rolls. Holcomb framed it simply: 'Good things tend to happen when you convert have-nots into haves.' The group intends to develop scalable models in their pilot states that can eventually be adopted nationwide, though critics may question whether a nonprofit backed by major AI companies can truly represent displaced worker interests.