Comment by Alberto Rocha

When Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 7, the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would have required human review before an algorithm could fire or discipline a California worker, the governor’s message last year was unmistakable: protecting livelihoods from automated decisions would impose too great a “burden” on innovation. This was not a minor policy disagreement. It was a signal that Sacramento is willing to let algorithmic systems — many built and controlled by out-of-state tech giants — make life-altering decisions about Californians without meaningful guardrails.