SB 947

California Senate Bill 947 (SB 947) is a worker protections bill addressing the use of artificial intelligence in employment decisions. It passed the California Senate 29-9 on 19 May 2026 and advanced through the Assembly committee stage in the week ending 6 June 2026. The bill is a companion measure to SB 951, the 90-day advance-notice bill for AI-driven mass layoffs: while SB 951 targets displacement at scale, SB 947 focuses on the rights of workers subject to AI-driven decisions in ongoing employment, including hiring screens, performance monitoring, and disciplinary processes.

SB 947 is distinct from SB 951 and should not be conflated with it. SB 951 triggers on mass layoffs where AI played a material role; SB 947 addresses individual-level worker rights in AI-assisted employment relationships. Together the two bills represent California's most comprehensive attempt yet to legislate on AI and employment. California has historically been a first mover in US employment regulation and its bills are watched by other state legislatures as models. The Senate vote margins on both bills — 28-9 and 29-9 respectively — suggest substantial but not unanimous support, meaning neither is guaranteed to clear the Assembly in its current form.

SB 947 advances as the Trump administration's National Policy Framework, published March 2026, directs federal agencies to preempt state AI labour laws. Any California bill that passes and is signed by the governor faces a potential constitutional challenge under the Supremacy Clause, a risk that has already played out with Colorado's AI Act (SB 24-205), which a federal court stayed in April 2026. California's legal resources and the scale of its economy give it more capacity to defend such laws than smaller states, but the preemption threat is real.