Too many working people across the country are struggling to afford the basics, much less save for college or retirement. Some states serve as stark examples of the incredible gap between CEOs and the hardworking people who make their companies profitable.

This map shows how the CEO pay at companies headquartered in each state compares to the pay of the average employee in the state.

$100 Million CEOs and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here and here to stay. The New York Times reports that nearly half of all jobs will be exposed to some form of AI automation that will disrupt and displace workers.

This AI revolution has the potential to unleash greater productivity and create broad-based prosperity, but it also has the power to cause widespread job loss and dramatic income inequality if CEOs and wealthy corporations have the final say.

This moment presents a clear choice for our society.

Right now, employers are deploying increasingly sophisticated AI-enhanced technologies without workers’ consent to monitor workers and to hire, control, evaluate, discipline, and even fire workers.

These powerful algorithmic monitoring tools can have significant negative impacts on employee privacy, economic security, dignity and autonomy on the job.

Wealthy CEOs like Bob Iger, whose new employment agreement as the returning CEO of the Walt Disney Co. promises him $31 million annually, believes workers’ calls for just compensation and protections from job disruption are not “realistic.”

To protect our jobs, our rights and our futures, workers must lead the way.

Whether AI is used to empower working people or is used to dehumanize work is a choice. By coming together in unions, we can negotiate for how AI will be used.

The AI future will be here soon as CEOs are rushing to incorporate AI into their businesses without protections for workers or workers having input on how AI will be used. Here is how the 10 highest-paid CEOs in 2022 are using AI:

Case Study: How AI is Undermining Job Security in the Entertainment Industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to revolutionize the entertainment industry. AI chatbots have been called “plagiarism machines” for creating movie and television scripts based on screen and television writers’ previously written content. AI can be used to duplicate background actors and even create synthetic performances using deep fake technology.

In 2023, screen and television writers affiliated with the Writers Guild of America and performers affiliated with SAG-AFTRA went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. These members are seeking a voice in how AI is used in the entertainment industry to protect their rights to the content they have created.

To ensure that AI does not undermine the role of human beings creating media and entertainment content, workers are demanding safeguards with the use of AI for writing scripts and for creating synthetic performances. Here are the CEOs of the major entertainment companies and their 2022 total compensation:

^*Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida received the following compensation for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2023, during which the average exchange rate was 135.4 yen to the U.S. dollar: