California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday vetoed an artificial intelligence safety bill aimed at curbing the fast-growing AI industry.
The bill, proposed by Democratic Sen. Scott Weiner, mentioned “safety” 42 times and outlined several guardrails it appeared to put in place.
That included “implementing the ability to immediately completely disable any AI model,” and having developers “implement a written and separate safety and security protocol” that would be publicly available.
SB 1047 would also require AI developers to “promote the development and deployment of artificial intelligence that is safe, ethical, equitable and sustainable.” This would be achieved, among other things, by “expanding access to computing resources” – although the bill does not say to whom in particular.
Newsom had already hinted that he would veto SB 1047 before Sunday. The Democratic governor said during his speech at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference earlier this month that California should take a leading role in regulating AI. But SB 1047, he said, was not the right way to address it because it would “have a chilling effect on the industry.”
After his veto on Sunday, Newsom said the bill was “well intentioned” but otherwise insufficient.
“SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision making, or uses sensitive data,” Newsom said in a statement. “Instead, the bill applies strict standards to even the most basic functions – as long as a major system uses them. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats from the technology.”
In addition to Newsom, OpenAI and Meta’s AI chief scientist Yann LeCun also recently spoke out against the bill.
The bill states that if AI is not “properly subject to human controls,” it could pose significant risks to public safety. This includes rogue AI models “that enable the creation and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” as well as directing cyber attacks.
On Sunday, Weiner said the veto was a “setback for anyone who believes in oversight of major corporations that make critical decisions that affect the safety and well-being of the public and the future of the planet.”
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