California Governor Newsom Vetoes AI Safety Bill that Divided Silicon Valley

On Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Invoice 1047 (SB 1047), a proposal that aimed to ascertain new security requirements for synthetic intelligence methods.

Whereas the invoice was touted as a possible mannequin for future AI regulation, Newsom argued it may undermine innovation in California’s tech sector.

“Adaptability is important as we attempt to regulate a expertise that’s nonetheless in its infancy. This requires a fragile steadiness,” Newsom stated wrote.

Newsom famous that SB 1047’s concentrate on large-scale AI fashions — which value greater than $100 million — may go away smaller however equally dangerous fashions out of attain.

The invoice, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, aimed to impose security protocols on builders of enormous AI fashions and create a Board of Frontier Fashions to observe compliance.

“By focusing solely on the most costly and large-scale fashions, SB 1047 creates a framework that would give the general public a false sense of safety about controlling this quickly evolving expertise,” Newsom added.

SB 1047 obtained assist from tech security advocates, together with Elon Musk, who referred to as for its adoption final month. “For greater than twenty years, I’ve been a supporter of AI regulation, simply as we regulate any product or expertise that poses a threat to the general public,” Musk stated.

Musk’s name was backed by AI stars Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, together with greater than 125 Hollywood figures, who signed an open letter urging Newsom to cross the invoice.

Nonetheless, the invoice confronted resistance from main tech gamers and enterprise capitalists, who argued the laws may curb innovation and drive expertise out of California. OpenAI, Meta and Google had been among the many opponents, preferring a federal method to regulation.

Newsom echoed these issues and advised a extra nuanced, evidence-based method.

“An method that focuses solely on California might be justified – particularly within the absence of federal motion from Congress – however it should be primarily based on empirical proof and science,” he wrote.

Senator Wiener expressed disappointment with the veto, warning that with out regulation, AI corporations would proceed to self-police with out enforceable security requirements.

Whereas Newsom has signed different AI-related payments, together with measures to fight deepfakes in elections and defend actors’ likenesses from replication by unauthorized AI, his rejection of SB 1047 underscores the problem of balancing innovation with oversight.

Newsom pledged to work with consultants, lawmakers and federal companions to develop future AI laws, pledging to “discover the best path ahead.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair