Pelosi Statement in Opposition to California Senate Bill 1047

San Francisco -Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi issued this statement in opposition to California Senate Bill 1047:

"AI has been a central policy focus of the President and the Congress for the past few years. President Biden has taken the lead in addressing AI's prospects and problems, receiving intellectual, business and community leaders to share their views. In the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, we early on brought in academics, entrepreneurs and leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors to express AI's opportunities and challenges.

"The review is coming down to if and what standards and guardrails should Congress legislate. In addition to focusing on protections, we wanted to pursue improving AI. This work continues under the Bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence under the leadership of co-chairs Congressman Ted Lieu and Congressman Jay Obernolte -both of California.

"At this time, the California legislature is considering SB 1047. The view of many of us in Congress is that SB 1047 is well-intentioned but ill informed. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the Committee of jurisdiction, Science, Space and Technology, has expressed(link is external) serious concerns to the lead author, Senator Scott Wiener.

"Prominent California leaders have spoken out, including Representatives Anna Eshoo and Ro Khanna who have joined other House Members in a letter(link is external) to Governor Gavin Newsom opposing the bill. While we want California to lead in AI in a way that protects consumers, data, intellectual property and more, SB 1047 is more harmful than helpful in that pursuit.

"I spelled out the seriousness and priority we in Congress and California have taken. To create a better path, I refer interested parties to Stanford scholar Fei-Fei Li, viewed as California's top AI academic and researcher and one of the top AI thinkers globally. Widely credited with being the "Godmother of AI," she warned(link is external) that California's Artificial Intelligence bill, SB 1047, would have significant unintended consequences that would stifle innovation and will harm the U.S. AI ecosystem. She has, in various conversations with President Biden, advocated a "moonshot mentality" to spur our continuing AI education, research and partnership.

"California has the intellectual resources that understand the technology, respect the intellectual property and prioritize academia and entrepreneurship. There are many proposals in the California legislature in addition to SB 1047. Reviewing them all enables a comprehensive understanding of the best path forward for our great state.

"AI springs from California. We must have legislation that is a model for the nation and the world. We have the opportunity and responsibility to enable small entrepreneurs and academia -not big tech -to dominate."