California Gov. Newsom says he’s worried about ‘chilling effect’ of AI bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is worried about the state’s controversial AI bill.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is concerned about the state’s controversial AI bill.

During an appearance at Salesforce’s Dreamforce event in San Francisco on Tuesday, the governor said he was concerned about a potential “chilling effect” on AI development the bill could cause. The comments were first reported by Bloomberg.

Newsom said he didn’t want California to lose its dominance in the AI space and warned that the impact of “signing wrong bills over the course of a few years could have a profound impact” on the state’s competitiveness.

California’s AI bill, SB 1047, has divided Silicon Valley leaders.

It has gained support from influential figures, including Elon Musk and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, but has been opposed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

The bill aims to introduce a set of measures that mitigate the risks posed by powerful AI models, including forcing companies operating in California to allow third parties to safety test their models.

The bill also specified the provision of a “full shutdown,” which functions as a kill switch for AI systems.

Last month, the state’s lawmakers voted to pass the AI safety bill, passing it onto Newsom, who has until September 30 to decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.

While the governor has not publicly disclosed his position on the bill, he has signed other bills aimed at cracking down on the use of AI in political ads and the unauthorized use of entertainers’ likenesses.

Representatives for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from B-17, made outside normal working hours.