Newsom Signs Sweeping Law Setting Rules for A.I.

"The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, or S.B. 53, requires the most advanced A.I. 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 whistle-blower protections for employees who warn the public about potential dangers the technology poses. State Senator 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 A.I."

"The closely watched California law will escalate the tech industry's war against states taking regulation of A.I. into their own hands. Meta, OpenAI, Google and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have warned that state legislation will put too much of a burden on A.I. 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 PACs that aim to elect politicians friendly to A.I. "It's a slippery slope. Today it's California, next month it's New York, a few months down the road it's Texas and so on," said David Grossman, vice president of policy and regulatory affairs at the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group. This year, 38 states passed or enacted about 100 A.I. regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures."

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed S.B. 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, establishing strict state-level AI safety rules. The law requires leading AI firms to disclose safety protocols and report major risks tied to their technologies. It expands whistle‑blower protections for employees who alert the public to potential dangers. Major tech firms and investors warned that state-level rules create burdens and urged federal preemption, with some funding political efforts supporting AI-friendly candidates. Trade groups cautioned about a proliferation of state laws. This year, 38 states enacted roughly 100 AI regulations, creating a patchwork of laws.

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