Newsom Signs Industry-Backed AI Regulatory Bills in California

By signing two bills into law on Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing his part in the fight against artificial intelligence, following a horror story about an AI researcher named Jacob Coxon leaving Anthropic and warning that AI industry leaders think they could hasten Armageddon. Yes, but it’s probably worth keeping in mind that California’s new laws are very popular with the AI ​​industry.

As Politico noted last month, Anthropic supported the bills. Anthropic’s main competitor, OpenAI, also announced its support for the bills hours before Newsom signed it.

“We have opened a new chapter in the capabilities of AI, and that requires a new chapter in AI policy,” reads the introduction to OpenAI’s statement, authored by Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s head of public affairs.

Asked by Politico about Coxon’s concerns, particularly about runaway artificial intelligence, Newsom said: “The concerns raised in recent incidents reinforce what California has long recognized: that artificial intelligence holds extraordinary promise, but it must be developed and implemented with meaningful safeguards to protect the public.” The federal government, Newsom said, must “step forward with strong national regulations that meet the urgency of this moment.”

State Senator Jerry McNerney’s SB 813 establishes an organization called the California Commission on Artificial Intelligence Standards and Safety. The commission will be tasked with creating a set of voluntary AI safety standards.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan AB 1405 creates a registry of artificial intelligence risk auditors, a way to verify auditors’ credentials.

OpenAI’s Lehane also said in a statement that the company “will advocate for compatible international approaches to measuring opportunities, managing risks, maintaining human control, and determining when and how development should slow or stop, even if this means slowing down the development of model capabilities.”

Anthropic’s statement to Politico highlights the history of the guarantees. Work like this, Anthropic says, “is also why we believe the world would benefit if the industry adopted a legitimate and verifiable way to work together to determine the pace of release of powerful models.”