09/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/29/2024 14:49
Sep 29, 2024
What you need to know: Governor Newsom announced that 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, will help lead California's effort to develop responsible guardrails for the deployment of GenAI. He also ordered state agencies to expand their assessment of the risks from potential catastrophic events.
SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom announced a series of initiatives to further protect Californians from fast-moving and transformative GenAI technology, while vetoing legislation that falls short of providing a flexible, comprehensive solution to curbing the potential catastrophic risks.
Over the past 30 days, Governor Newsom signed 17 bills covering the deployment and regulation of GenAI technology, the most comprehensive legislative package in the nation on this emerging industry - cracking down on deepfakes, requiring AI watermarking, protecting children and workers, and combating AI-generated misinformation. California has led the world in GenAI innovation while working toward common-sense regulations for the industry and bringing GenAI tools to state workers, students, and educators.
Governor Gavin Newsom
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:
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.
Governor Gavin Newsom
California's AI global leadership
Last year, Governor Newsom signed an executive order laying out how California's measured approach will focus on shaping the future of ethical, transparent, and trustworthy GenAI, while remaining the world's GenAI leader.
Within the past two weeks, Governor Newsom signed a series of bills to crack down on sexually explicit deepfakes and require AI watermarking, protect performers' digital likenesses, and combat deepfake election content.
AI is already changing the world, and California will play a pivotal role in defining that future. The state is home to 32 of the world's 50 leading GenAI companies, high-impact research and education institutions, and a quarter of the technology's patents and conference papers.
California has led the nation in harnessing these transformative technologies while studying the risks they present. The state has undertaken efforts to utilize GenAI to solve challenges, everything from reducing traffic to helping address homelessness.
Last month, the state partnered with NVIDIA to launch a first-of-its-kind AI collaboration and earlier hosted a GenAI summit with leaders to discuss how the state can best use this transformative technology to better serve the people of California.
Over the past 30 days, Governor Newsom has signed the following bills concerning GenAI technology:
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