California Governor Vetoes Far-Reaching AI Safety Bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday vetoed a controversial and far-reaching artificial intelligence bill, SB 1047, that The New York Times called "the most ambitious proposal in the nation aimed at curtailing the growth of the new technology."

"While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions -- so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology."

The bill is just the latest attempt to legislate the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry. As of August, the European Union has put its AI Act into effect, but the US hasn't followed suit, although some states have passed laws against deepfakes and other deceptive uses of AI. The European act regulates the type of artificial intelligence that tech companies can deploy, and it calls for those companies to be transparent with users.

The California bill would have required safety testing of large AI models before they could be released to the public, gave the state's attorney general the right to sue companies if their technologies caused serious harm and mandated a kill switch to turn off AI systems in case of major threats.

Newsom said he's not against safety protocols for AI.

"We cannot afford to wait for a major catastrophe to occur before taking action to protect the public. California will not abandon its responsibility," Newsom's statement went on to say. "Proactive guardrails .should be implemented, and severe consequences for bad actors must be clear and enforceable."

The governor said a statewide solution needed to be "informed by an empirical trajectory analysis of Al systems and capabilities," adding, "ultimately, any framework for effectively regulating Al needs to keep pace with the technology itself."

Bill co-author Sen. Scott Wiener called the veto a "setback" in a statement issued following the veto.

"This veto leaves us with the troubling reality that companies aiming to create an extremely powerful technology face no binding restrictions from US policymakers, particularly given Congress's continuing paralysis around regulating the tech industry in any meaningful way," the Democratic state senator said.

It's far from the end for future attempts at large-scale AI legislation, especially in the state that is home to the tech industry's powerful Silicon Valley.

"California will continue to lead in that conversation," Wiener said. "We are not going anywhere."