Newsom signs first-in-nation AI law to curb bioweapon, cyber threats

Gov Gavin Newsom addresses the media after signing rule File photo by Alisha Jucevic CalMatters California Gov Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a law that aims to prevent people from using powerful artificial intelligence models for potentially catastrophic events like building a bioweapon or shutting down a bank system The move comes as Newsom touted California as a leader in AI regulation and criticized the inaction at the federal level in a fresh conversation with former President Bill Clinton The new law will establish several of the first-in-the-nation regulations on large-scale AI models without hurting the state s homegrown industry Newsom revealed A great number of of the world s top AI companies are located in California and will have to follow the requirements California has proven that we can establish regulations to protect our communities while also ensuring that the growing AI industry continues to thrive This bill strikes that balance Newsom declared in a report The act requires AI companies to implement and disclose publicly safety protocols to prevent their majority of advanced models from being used to cause major harm The rules are designed to cover AI systems if they meet a frontier threshold that signals they run on a huge amount of computing power Read more https t co wHjjMFF Ih Governor Gavin Newsom CAgovernor September Such thresholds are based on how multiple calculations the computers are performing Those who crafted the regulations have acknowledged the numerical thresholds are an imperfect starting point to distinguish in contemporary times s highest-performing generative AI systems from the next generation that could be even more powerful The existing systems are largely made by California-based companies like Anthropic Google Meta Platforms and OpenAI The bill defines a catastrophic threat as something that would cause at least billion in damage or more than injuries or deaths It s designed to guard against AI being used for sessions that could cause mass disruption such as hacking into a power grid Companies also have to document to the state any critical safety incidents within days The law creates whistleblower protections for AI workers and establishes a residents cloud for researchers It includes a fine of million per violation It drew opposition from particular tech companies which argued that AI law should be done at the federal level But Anthropic stated the regulations are practical safeguards that make official the safety practices multiple companies are already doing voluntarily While federal standards remain essential to avoid a patchwork of state regulations California has created a strong framework that balances masses safety with continued innovation Jack Clark co-founder and head of agenda at Anthropic revealed in a comment The signing comes after Newsom last year vetoed a broader version of the regulation siding with tech companies that explained the requirements were too rigid and would have hampered innovation Newsom instead required a group of several industry experts including AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li to develop recommendations on guardrails around powerful AI models The new law incorporates recommendations and feedback from Newsom s group of AI experts and the industry supporters revealed The law also doesn t put the same level of reporting requirements on startups to avoid hurting innovation declared state Sen Scott Wiener of San Francisco the bill s author With this law California is stepping up once again as a global leader on both system innovation and safety Wiener stated in a declaration Newsom s decision comes as President Donald Trump in July released a plan to eliminate what his administration sees as onerous regulations to speed up AI innovation and cement the U S position as the global AI leader Republicans in Congress earlier this year unsuccessfully tried to ban states and localities from regulating AI for a decade Without stronger federal regulations states across the country have spent the last sparse years trying to rein in the hardware tackling everything from deepfakes in elections to AI therapy In California the Legislature this year passed a number of bills to address safety concerns around AI chatbots for children and the use of AI in the workplace California has also been an early adopter of AI technologies The state has deployed generative AI tools to spot wildfires and address highway congestion and road safety among other things