California Assembly passes strict AI regulation bill, with Silicon Valley still divided

California lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill to create new restrictions for artificial intelligence, despite that industry’s opposition.

Senate Bill 1047, passed Wednesday by the State Assembly (that legislature’s lower chamber), will require large AI model creators to have safeguards in place as well as prevent “critical harms” against humanity. Creators would also be held liable for damages over $500 million.

“The Assembly has taken the truly historic step of working proactively to ensure an exciting new technology protects the public interest as it advances,” Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat and co-author of the bill, said in a statement.

Wiener also praised OpenAI’s support for the bill, which has argued that the issue “should be left to Congress.” However, the AI firm also warns that companies will leave California if the bill passes. Wiener disagreed with that, calling the argument “tired.”

He added: “Bottom line: SB 1047 is a highly reasonable bill that asks large AI labs to do what they’ve already committed to doing, namely, test their large models for catastrophic safety risk.”

If enacted, the bill will position the state as a leader in regulating a technology that has surged in popularity, especially with the advent of humanlike chatbots and advanced image and video generators.

Mixed reaction towards SB 1047

Earlier this week, ReadWrite reported on Elon Musk’s unexpected stance to support the bill. The CEO of X wrote on his platform: “This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill.

“For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public.”

This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill.

For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2024

Yoshua Bengio, often considered the “Godfather of AI,” also approves of the legislation. “It’s going to create an incentive for companies to not be the worst student in the class,” the University of Montreal computer science professor told Bloomberg.

SB 1047 will now advance to be signed or vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom sometime next month.

Several members of Congress, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the former Speaker of the House, wrote Newsom with a warning that the legislation could harm the development of AI.

“The view of many of us in Congress is that SB 1047 is well-intentioned but ill informed,” Pelosi said in an open letter.

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