The new bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate on Wednesday could nerf the use of artificial intelligence and offshoring in customer service roles to protect both American jobs and consumer privacy.
Senator Ruben Gallego and co-sponsor Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia have forwarded the “Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025,” which would impose new requirements on businesses that use overseas labour or AI in call centers.
If passed, it would ensure that consumers are given the option to speak with a human representative located within the United States, while penalizing companies that outsource customer service jobs abroad.
Proposed law to keep jobs for US natives and limit AI reliance
In a CBS MoneyWatch interview, Gallego said people want to have the option of speaking to a human or AI. “Who hasn’t pressed zero repeatedly to try to skip the automated systems because they want to talk to a human?” the Senator from Arizona asked.
Under the proposed legislation, businesses that plan to offshore call center operations would be required to notify the Department of Labor (DOL) at least 120 days before doing so. The DOL would then keep a publicly accessible list of such employers, whose names would appear on that list for five years unless they take steps to bring those jobs back to the US.
Companies on the list would become ineligible for new federal grants and federally backed loans, while businesses that keep their call center operations onshore would receive preferential treatment in the awarding of federal contracts.
The bill would also instruct the DOL to monitor and track job losses attributed to artificial intelligence in the call center industry. Moreover, call center agents will have to disclose both their physical location and if AI is being used at the start of a customer service interaction.
“West Virginians and all Americans deserve good service. When folks pick up the phone and ask for help, they shouldn’t have to deal with AI robots or be routed to someone across the world. This bill puts American workers first,” Senator Justice noted.
Labor union in support of Act, cites data privacy concerns
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), a labor union representing tens of thousands of call center employees, has endorsed the legislation. Dan Mauer, the CWA’s Director of Government Affairs, said the bill could solve the dual threats to the workforce: outsourcing and the unchecked spread of AI.
“This much-needed legislation protects US call center jobs and addresses the growing threats posed by artificial intelligence and offshoring,” Mauer remarked. “Now companies are using AI to de-skill and speed up work and displace jobs, which undermines worker rights and degrades service quality for consumers.”
Senator Gallego supported Mauer’s sentiments about the security implications of AI-powered offshore customer service, adding that workers outside America can misuse sensitive personal data.
“We are concerned about what it means for American consumers if they’re not talking to a human based in the US, when it comes to security around their private information,” he concluded.
Over the past year, AI tools have been taking up tasks once performed by human employees, including in customer service, software development, and administrative functions.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned in May that up to 20% of white-collar jobs could be lost to AI over the next five years. But even in the face of job cuts, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNN that AI would only lead to job losses “if the world runs out of ideas.”
