Coalition urges California Gov. Newsom to sign AI guardrail bill into law

SAN FRANCISCO — A group representing numerous public-interest organizations and state Sen. Scott Wiener urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a landmark artificial intelligence regulation bill into law at a press conference Tuesday.

The bill, which has received both support and pushback from prominent tech leaders, would require that companies implement safeguards to protect against AI-driven cyberattacks and its use in the development of chemical, nuclear or biological weapons. Authored by Wiener, it passed through both houses of the state legislature by a wide margin last month.

“If AI models are gaining the ability to wreak havoc as quickly as they are gaining the ability to improve the world, it’s critical that, as we promote innovation, that we also put robust guardrails in place now and not just rely on voluntary, non transparent, unenforceable corporate commitments that may or may not hold water down the road,” Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said at the press conference.

Wiener acknowledged the technological potential of AI – to help cure diseases, mitigate the climate crisis and more – but emphasized the importance of getting ahead of risks.

Newsom has not publicly indicated whether he will sign the bill. Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The bill received a wide swath of bipartisan support in the statehouse but criticism from technology companies such as Meta, Google and OpenAI. Prominent Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the house, expressed concern that the bill will hurt innovation, while Geoffrey Hinton, the former head of AI at Google — often considered the “Godfather of AI” — said in a statement that the risks of AI are “very real and should be taken extremely seriously.”

Newsom signed into law two other bills related to AI Tuesday during a visit to Hollywood – one that requires contracts to stipulate use of AI-created replicas of performers’ likenesses or voices, and one that prohibits the use of the likenesses of deceased actors without permission from their estates, according to a press release from Newsom’s office.

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(Staff writer Ryan Macasero contributed reporting.)