Warner announces reelection bid, proposes tech companies help fund AI job losses
Virginia's senior senator warns of economic disruption, criticizes Washington's response
Sen. Mark Warner, who resides in Alexandria, launched his reelection campaign Tuesday with a warning about artificial intelligence displacing jobs and a proposal that technology companies help pay for the fallout.
Warner, a Democrat who has represented Virginia in the Senate since 2009, announced his bid for a fourth term in a video that painted a picture of an economy leaving workers behind even as markets soar.
“For a long time, when the stock market was booming and big American companies were succeeding, that meant jobs for working Americans,” Warner said. “But since the AI revolution, job opportunities look like this (showing a chart going down), even though the stock market looks like that (showing a chart going up).”
The senator, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized both Washington and the Trump administration for failing to address the challenge.
“Washington right now hasn’t got a damn idea what to do about it,” Warner said. “And the president doesn’t even seem to care.”
Warner, a former technology entrepreneur who co-founded Nextel, proposed that tech companies displacing workers with AI “should actually help pay for the solutions.” He called for universal health care coverage and “a complete overhaul of affordable housing and child care.”
He also pointed to an affordability crisis facing families.
“Grocery and energy prices keep climbing. Rent is out of control,” Warner said. “And it feels like you need a second mortgage just to send your kid to daycare.”
The senator framed technological disruption as an opportunity, drawing on his business background.
“Trust me when I say if you think we’ve seen massive technological change over the past two decades, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said. “America’s never been afraid of the future. And we shouldn’t be afraid now.”
As Virginia’s 69th governor from 2002 to 2006, Warner worked with a Republican-controlled legislature to turn a budget shortfall into a surplus. During his Senate tenure, he has authored or sponsored 85 bills that have been signed into law by presidents of both parties.