California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a contentious artificial-intelligence safety bill Sunday after the tech industry voiced objections, saying it could send AI companies fleeing from the state and stifle innovation.
Newsom said the bill “does not consider whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data” and would apply “stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it.”
Newsom said he has asked the leading experts on generative AI to help California develop “workable guardrails” that focus on “the development of an empirical, science-based trajectory analysis.” He also ordered state agencies to expand their assessment of dangers from possible catastrophic events associated with the use of AI.
Superintelligent machines that can create text, photos, and videos in response to open-ended prompts have aroused enthusiasm as well as fears it could make some jobs obsolete, upend elections, and perhaps end up overpowering humans and have catastrophic effects.
The bill’s author is Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener, who said this legislation is necessary so as to protect the public before the advances in AI become either unwieldy or uncontrollable. The industry of AI is growing fast in California and some leaders questioned the future of these companies if the bill was to pass.
Wiener said Sunday the veto makes California less safe and means “companies aiming to create an extremely powerful technology face no binding restrictions.” He added “voluntary commitments from industry are not enforceable and rarely work out well for the public.”
“We can’t wait for the major catastrophe to happen before we do something about public protection,” Newsom said, but added that he disagreed “we must settle for a solution that is not informed by an empirical trajectory analysis of AI systems and capabilities.”
Newsom said he will work with the legislature on AI legislation in its next session. This would be during a time where legislation in the US Congress to set safeguards has stalled and is being advanced by the Biden administration on regulatory AI oversight proposals.
Newsom said, “a California-only approach may well be warranted – especially absent federal action by Congress.”
Chamber of Progress, a tech industry coalition, was positive in its reaction to the veto by Newsom, saying “the California tech economy has always thrived on competition and openness.”
The measure would have, among other things, ensured safety testing for many of the most advanced AI models that have cost over $100 million to develop or require a defined amount of computing power. Developers of AI software operating in the state would also have needed to outline methods for turning off the AI models, or a kill switch.
The bill would establish a state entity that oversees the development of so-called “Frontier Models” that are greater than the ones in the most advanced existing models.
The bill received stiff resistance from across the board. Alphabet’s Google, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, and Meta Platforms-all developing generative AI models-could be just some of the opposition.
Some US Congress Democrats, including Representative Nancy Pelosi, were opposed. Backers included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also runs an AI firm called xAI. Amazon-backed Anthropic said the benefits of the legislation likely outweighed the costs but noted it could still find some areas that appear troubling or vague.
Newsom signed a related bill that requires the state to assess risks Generative AI may pose to California’s key infrastructure.
The state is reviewing risks in its energy infrastructure and has already assembled power sector providers for the purpose and will do the same with the providers of water infrastructure within the next year and later communications sector, said Newsom.
