Author of Vetoed California AI Bill Says Issue ‘Not Going Away’
(Bloomberg) -- The architect of California’s controversial artificial intelligence safety bill said local lawmakers will continue pushing for guardrails on the technology after Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision Sunday to veto the legislation.
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“It’s disappointing that this veto happened, but this issue isn’t going away,” Democratic California Senator Scott Wiener said in an interview Monday with Bloomberg Television. “We are going to get the job done.”
The bill, called SB 1047, would have been among the first to hold AI developers accountable for any severe harm — such as mass casualties or property damage above $500 million — caused by their technologies. The legislation also mandated specific precautions, including maintaining a kill switch that could turn off companies’ technology and opening up AI models to third-party testing.
SB 1047 drew fierce criticism from some prominent Democrats and major tech firms, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, ChatGPT creator OpenAI and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which warned it could stall innovation in the state.
Newsom described the bill as “well-intentioned” but said in a statement Sunday that it would’ve applied “stringent standards to even the most basic functions.” Regulation should be based on “empirical evidence and science,” he said, pointing to his own executive order on AI and other bills he’s signed that regulate the technology around known risks such as deepfakes.
In announcing his veto, Newsom said he will consult with outside experts, including AI scholar and entrepreneur Fei-Fei Li, to “develop workable guardrails” on the technology and continue working with California’s legislature on the topic.
Despite the veto, Wiener said Newsom’s decision to set up a working group and acknowledge the potential for catastrophic risks represents “a big step forward.” Wiener declined to say whether he would reintroduce the bill in the next session, but said he wants to continue engaging with Newsom and others on the issue, especially as Congress has made little progress toward federal AI legislation.
“California, as the heartland of AI and innovation, has a responsibility to lead on AI safety,” he said.
--With assistance from Caroline Hyde.
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