California has enacted a package of laws governing the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, while a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee for certain H-1B visa applications.
The developments, both announced Sept. 30, highlight separate legal and policy disputes over the use of AI and the regulation of foreign skilled workers.
California lawmakers approved several measures addressing how employers can use AI to monitor and make decisions about workers.
Under SB 947, employers are prohibited from relying on AI to make decisions to fire or discipline employees without human oversight. SB 951 expands the state’s WARN Act requirements to address the potential effects of AI on layoffs.
Another measure, AB 1883, restricts the use of AI systems to determine workers’ emotional states, while SB 1331 prohibits AI surveillance in workplace bathrooms.
The measures were supported by the California Federation of Labor Unions and the AFL-CIO. California Federation of Labor Unions President Lorena Gonzalez said the laws are intended to establish limits on workplace AI, including requirements for human control and restrictions on surveillance.
A separate measure, SB 574, addresses the use of AI by attorneys. Among other requirements, it restricts lawyers from entering personal or confidential information into publicly accessible AI tools and requires disclosure when AI is used in legal briefs.
The measures add to California’s growing body of rules governing AI in employment and professional services.
Federal Judge Blocks $100,000 H-1B Fee
On September 30, 2026, Judge Haywood Gilliam, Jr. of the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction to block President Trump’s $100,000 fee for skilled foreign workers seeking H-1B visas. Trump initially launched this idea early in his presidency, with the stated goal of driving down competition for high-paying positions, allowing domestic workers to more easily secure those jobs. Critics have connected the fee, however, to Trump’s history of racist and exclusionary policies. Indeed, this is not the first judge to order blocking the fee.
The ruling follows an earlier case involving the same fee. In June, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of challenges based on the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution.
Gilliam’s latest ruling addresses a revised version of the fee issued by the Trump administration following Sorokin’s decision.
The legal dispute over the H-1B fee remains separate from California’s workplace AI legislation, but both developments reflect broader debates over federal and state approaches to technology, employment and regulation.
