Governor Newsom announces new initiatives to advance safe and responsible AI, protect Californians

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Governor Newsom announces new initiatives to advance safe and responsible AI, protect Californians

The Governor has asked the world’s leading experts on GenAI to help California develop workable guardrails for deploying GenAI, focusing on developing an empirical, science-based trajectory analysis of frontier models and their capabilities and attendant risks. The Governor will continue to work with the Legislature on this critical matter during its next session.

Building on the partnership created after the Governor’s 2023 executive order, California will work with the “godmother of AI,” Dr. Fei-Fei Li, as well as Tino Cuéllar, member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Social and Ethical Implications of Computing Research, and Jennifer Tour Chayes, Dean of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society at UC Berkeley, on this critical project. Here’s what these leading experts had to say:

  • “Frontier AI brings the potential for enormous benefits as well as real risks that require sustained, careful judgment. I look forward to working with California to get the balance right in the days and months ahead.” — Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Social and Ethical Implications of Computing Research
  • “I am honored to continue the partnership between UC Berkeley, Stanford and Governor Newsom, leveraging the world’s greatest scientists and thinkers on AI, many of whom are located right here in California. It is critical we nurture a robust innovation economy and foster academic research – this is how we’ll ensure AI benefits the most people, in the most ways, while protecting from bad actors and grave harms. The College of Computing, Data Science and Society at UC Berkeley stands at the ready to provide cutting edge science and and policy recommendations to make sure we achieve these goals.”— Jennifer Tour Chayes, Dean of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society at UC Berkeley
  • “Safe and responsible AI is essential for California’s vibrant innovation ecosystem. To effectively govern this powerful technology, we need to depend upon scientific evidence to determine how to best foster innovation and mitigate risk. The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) was founded with the specific mission of ensuring that AI is developed to benefit society. HAI looks forward to the continued partnership with the State of California through Governor Newsom’s Executive Order on GenAI to ensure California’s leadership on safe, vibrant, and beneficial AI.” — Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence

The Newsom Administration will also immediately engage academia to convene labor stakeholders and the private sector to explore approaches to use GenAI technology in the workplace. The Administration is committed to continuing partnerships with public sector unions in nation-leading government procurement.

Today, Governor Newsom signed legislation requiring California’s Office of Emergency Services to expand their work assessing the potential threats posed by the use of GenAI to California’s critical infrastructure, including those that could lead to mass casualty events. That bill, SB 896 by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa), codifies aspects of the Governor’s recent Executive Order from September 2023. At the Governor’s direction, Cal OES is working with frontier model companies to analyze energy infrastructure risks and convened power sector providers to share threats and security strategies. Building on the work to date and pursuant to SB 896, the Governor has directed Cal OES to undertake the same risk assessment with water infrastructure providers in the coming year and the communications sector shortly after that. Read the signing message here.

Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1047, one of several GenAI bills considered this year by the California Legislature. Read the veto message here.

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