Employers who use software to screen, rank or discipline workers face a growing set of rules. A client alert from the law firm Gibson Dunn, dated 5 October 2026, sets out where those rules now apply.
The firm’s first edition of an AI-in-employment newsletter focuses on “automated decision-making” regulations. Some are already in force and others take effect in the coming months.
Two parallel tracks
According to Gibson Dunn, laws written specifically for automated decision-making tools in employment have been enacted in California, Colorado, Connecticut and New York City. The firm says such laws are “proliferating.”
A second track runs through existing anti-discrimination law. The firm says these statutes are being expanded to name AI tools explicitly. It lists California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas as examples.
The two approaches differ in kind. The first sets rules for the technology itself. The second extends long-standing bans on discrimination to decisions made or assisted by software.
California’s latest step
The alert notes that Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Robo Bosses Act on 30 September. Gibson Dunn presents it as one of the measures employers must now track. The newsletter’s summary does not detail the act’s provisions, and this article does not describe them beyond that.
What is not settled
The material available for this report is the newsletter’s introduction and key points, not its full text. It does not say how each state defines covered tools, which employers are in scope, or what penalties apply. Readers who need those details should consult the firm’s publication or the statutes themselves.
The picture it gives is of a patchwork. A company hiring in several states may face different notice, testing or discrimination standards for the same software. The alert does not mention a federal rule that would replace them.
For now, the practical effect falls on human resources departments and the vendors who sell them screening and scheduling tools. Gibson Dunn says it plans to keep tracking legislative and regulatory developments in future editions.