California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday directing California agencies to speed up independent oversight of frontier AI companies and study an emergency shutoff, a “kill switch,” for the most powerful models.
The order tells the Government Operations Agency, working with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, to work with experts and deliver recommendations within two months.
Newsom said in a statement:
The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation.
We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late. We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action.
While Washington abdicates its responsibility to protect Americans, California is building on the strongest AI regulatory framework in the nation. California has already built a national model, and our policy should be the national baseline.
Hellbound and Down 