California governor blocks major AI security bill

California Governor Gavin Newsom has voted the Safe and Secure Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047) into law.

It would have applied to covered AI companies doing business in California with a model that costs more than $100 million to train or more than $10 million to fine-tune, adding requirements that developers use “kill machine”-like safeguards and put in place protocols to test them to reduce the chance of catastrophic events like attacks. of a cyberattack or pandemic. The document also establishes whistleblower protections for reporting breaches and allows the Auditor to sue for damages caused by security incidents.

Changes since it was introduced have included removing proposals for a new regulatory agency and giving the state attorney general the power to sue developers for potential incidents before they happen. Many of the companies covered by the law have rejected the law, although some have muted their criticism after the amendments.

The Chamber of Progress, a coalition representing Amazon, Meta, and Google, similarly warned that the law would “slow down innovation.”

Opponents of the bill include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and eight California Democrats. On the other hand, vocal supporters have included Elon Musk, famous Hollywood names such as Mark Hamill, Alyssa Milano, Shonda Rhimes, and JJ Abrams, as well as unions including SAG-AFTRA and SEIU.

The federal government is also looking at ways to regulate AI. In May, the Senate proposed a $32 billion road map that goes through several areas that lawmakers should consider, including AI’s impact on elections, national security, copyrighted content, and more.