Rapid advancements in AI have industry and political leaders warning of massive job displacement for white-collar workers. It could reshape U.S. politics.

Blue-collar workers have been at the center of political messaging for years. Politicians meet with waitresses at a diner to pitch raising the minimum wage, tour a factory to spotlight job growth or tell stories of their family’s hardscrabble bona fides while visiting cities like Detroit or Pittsburgh.

Lately, though, a different group has been getting more attention: white-collar professionals. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is at the forefront of this development.

The Republican governor expressed concern in August that “some of these white-collar jobs … could end up being obsolete” due to advancements in AI. In September, he said the H-1B visa program was “especially galling” at a time when AI “is forecast to reduce a significant number of white-collar jobs.” And in November, he worried about predictions that AI is “going to really undercut a lot of jobs — a lot of white-collar jobs.”

Other officials are sounding the alarm, too, including Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat.