California governor signs sweeping AI regulations

The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, or SB 53, requires the most advanced AI companies to report safety protocols used in building their technologies and forces the companies to report the greatest risks posed by their technologies. The bill also strengthens whistleblower protections for employees who warn the public about potential dangers the technology poses.

- CECILIA KANG

California Sen Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, who proposed the legislation, said the law was crucial to fill a vacuum to protect consumers from potential harms from Al.

“This is a groundbreaking law that promotes both innovation and safety; the two are not mutually exclusive, even though they are often pitted against each other to be,’ Mr Wiener said.

The closely watched California law will escalate the tech industry's war against states taking regulation of AI into their own hands.

Meta, OpenAl, Google and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have warned that state legislation will put too much of a burden on AI companies, which now face dozens of state laws around the country attempting to govern the rapidly advancing technology. The companies have pushed for federal legislation that blocks states from passing a patchwork of rules.

Last month, Meta and Andreessen Horowitz pledged $200 million to two separate super political action committees that aim to elect politicians friendly to Al.