The same companies building the AI systems that are displacing workers are now funding the largest single effort to retrain those workers. On June 25, 2026, former US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb launched RAISE US, a bipartisan nonprofit backed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Amazon, Bank of America, IBM, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The organisation has already secured more than $500 million toward a $1 billion funding target.

The initiative’s stated mission is to fill what Raimondo calls America’s “missing piece”: a people strategy to match its technology strategy.

What RAISE US Will Actually Do

RAISE US is not a lobbying group or a public relations exercise. The organisation is deploying capital into four practical areas:

Retraining programs for workers whose jobs have been automated or significantly altered by AI adoption, with a focus on connecting those workers to roles where AI augments rather than replaces human skill.

Apprenticeships that pair workers with employers building AI-integrated workflows, giving people hands-on experience in the kinds of roles companies actually need filled.

Career navigation support to help workers understand what the AI-affected labour market actually looks like and which skills have durable value versus which roles are most at risk.

Policy piloting in partnership with academic researchers, testing interventions like short-time compensation (where employers reduce hours instead of laying off workers, with wage support for the difference) and wage insurance programs for workers who take lower-paying jobs during a transition.

State-level partnerships are already in place in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah, with the bipartisan leadership deliberately chosen to signal that this is not a party-line issue.

Why the Funders Are the Same as the Disruptors

The optics here are worth addressing directly. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Amazon are all heavily invested in building the AI systems that are automating knowledge work at scale. Their participation in RAISE US is partly genuine acknowledgment of responsibility and partly strategic: helping workers adapt to AI reduces political and regulatory blowback on AI development.

That does not make the money less real or the programs less valuable. It does mean businesses should read the initiative as a signal that the tech industry privately believes AI displacement is significant enough to warrant a coordinated, nine-figure response. That is information worth acting on.

The Scale of the Problem

Multiple major studies have shown that AI is beginning to affect white-collar and knowledge work in measurable ways. A 2026 report from Anthropic’s own economic research division found evidence of meaningful job displacement in roles involving routine information processing, customer interaction, and content creation. Gartner has estimated that conversational AI alone could reduce contact centre labour costs by $80 billion globally in 2026.

RAISE US is not suggesting these disruptions are bad. It is acknowledging they are real and that transitions of this speed and scale require active investment, not passive hope that markets will sort it out.

What This Means for Business

Workforce strategy is now an AI strategy. Business leaders planning AI deployments need to think alongside workforce impact. Companies that automate workflows without a plan for affected staff face both talent problems and reputational ones. RAISE US gives businesses a reference point: even the companies building AI are investing in worker transition.

Data literacy is the most durable skill. Across every sector facing AI disruption, the workers best positioned to adapt are those who can understand data, interpret AI outputs, and apply judgment that models cannot replicate. Upskilling in data and AI is not just good professional development. It is practical insurance.

Reskilling is becoming a competitive advantage. The businesses that invest in helping their people adapt to AI will retain more institutional knowledge than those that run lean and replace expertise with automation. RAISE US exists because the private sector cannot outsource this responsibility entirely.

The regulatory environment is watching. The bipartisan backing for RAISE US and the focus on policy pilots signals that government is looking for market-based approaches to AI displacement before considering legislation. Businesses that demonstrate proactive workforce investment are better positioned in that environment than those caught flat-footed.

For Enterprise DNA, the launch of RAISE US is a validation of something the platform has been built on for years: the belief that data literacy and AI skills are not nice-to-have professional development, but fundamental capability for navigating a changing economy. EDNA Learn exists precisely to give individuals and organisations that capability before disruption forces the conversation.

If you want to build a team that is ready for whatever comes next in AI, that work starts now. Explore EDNA Learn or find out how we help entire organisations upskill.