Meta this morning announced another round of layoffs – hours after they cut a $950,000 check to back Becerra

As Attorney General, Becerra had a long history of turning a blind eye to tech industry abuses 

SAN FRANCISCO – Late yesterday, Meta poured $950,000 into an effort to help elect Xavier Becerra as their champion – and tear down Tom Steyer, who they know will hold Big Tech accountable.

Just hours later, Meta informed 8,000 employees of devastating mass layoffs impacting their families and futures, cutting their jobs in favor of investing more heavily in AI. 

As attorney general, Xavier Becerra was often absent, evasive, and ambivalent when it came to investigating tech companies. A 2019 New York Times report revealed Becerra’s resistance to transparency and action, citing Becerra and his office as the only ones privy to knowledge about action taken against AI companies, or, as Becerra referred to them, “companies in the internet space.”

Throughout his campaign for governor, Becerra has shared thin policy proposals and struggled to articulate his stance and plan to regulate AI. On the debate stage last week, Becerra gave a rambling non-answer on how he would approach data centers and regulate AI. 

“Meta is laying off thousands of workers while investing nearly $1 million in Xavier Becerra, and that’s because Becerra is their best bet to protect their profits regardless of the human cost,” said Steyer for Governor spokesperson Kevin Liao. “Big Tech, Big Oil, and corporate interests are linking arms to fight Tom Steyer because he’s the only candidate who will hold them accountable from day one.”

Steyer has released a robust AI policy to protect California workers, guarantee good-paying jobs for workers impacted by AI, and ensure that the benefits of artificial intelligence are shared by working families and not captured solely by Silicon Valley billionaires and Big Tech corporations. Steyer is the only candidate with a plan to tax AI and use the revenue to invest in Californian workers and communities.

Steyer's plan includes policies to: 

• Tax Big Tech
• Strengthen Social Safety Nets
• Create the AI Worker Protection Administration
• Launch the California Jobs Initiative
• Develop an Industrial Policy That Puts Workers First

You can read Steyer’s full plan here, as well as a feature in Wired. 

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