AI safety bill vetoed by Newsom is a victory for tech giants

California Governor Vetoes Controversial AI Bill: Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a high-profile artificial intelligence bill that faced significant opposition from Silicon Valley and tech industry leaders.

The bill’s key provisions: SB 1047 aimed to establish a new government agency to enforce compliance on developers of “covered models” – AI systems using a significant amount of computing power for training or fine-tuning.

• The bill would have imposed criminal penalties, including perjury charges, for non-compliance.
• It targeted AI models using 10^26 or 10^25 floating point operations (FLOPs) for training or fine-tuning, respectively.

Opposition from tech industry: The bill faced widespread criticism from various stakeholders in the technology sector.

• Silicon Valley venture capitalists, California startup founders, AI policy experts, academics, and bipartisan lawmakers argued against the bill.
• Critics claimed it would stifle AI innovation and harm California’s economy.
• Prominent figures like Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly opposed the bill.

Concerns raised by opponents: Critics of SB 1047 highlighted several issues with the proposed legislation.

• The bill was seen as potentially punitive to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses.
• There were worries about its potential to have a “chilling effect” on the AI sector, as echoed by Governor Newsom.
• Critics argued that the bill favored closed-source over open-source models and was too vague to be actionable.

Industry efforts against the bill: Tech industry leaders and advocacy groups worked to oppose SB 1047 through various channels.

• Andreessen Horowitz’s Chief Legal Officer sent a detailed letter to the bill’s introducer, highlighting concerns.
• A16z and Y Combinator co-published a letter signed by 140 AI startup founders opposing the bill.
• Advocacy groups like Context Fund engaged in direct efforts in Sacramento to voice concerns and seek amendments.

Authorship and backing: The bill’s origins and support base raised additional concerns among critics.

• SB 1047 was largely authored by the Center for AI Safety (CAIS), an advocacy firm aligned with and funded by Effective Altruists.
• Effective Altruists believe that AI poses an existential threat to humanity without strict state regulation.
• The bill’s connection to this group led to criticism about potential conflicts of interest and ideological motivations.

Academic and expert opposition: The bill also faced pushback from prominent figures in the AI research community.

• Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun called the bill “extremely regressive.”
• UC faculty and students circulated an open letter opposing the bill.
• Experts from Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and CalTech also spoke out against SB 1047.

Support for the bill: Despite widespread opposition, SB 1047 did have some high-profile supporters.

• Elon Musk, Turing Award-winning computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed support for the bill.
• Some mainstream media outlets, including Vox and LA Times, published editorials in favor of SB 1047.

Conflict of interest concerns: Reporting by Pirate Wires raised questions about potential conflicts of interest related to the bill.

• CAIS, heavily involved in drafting the bill, received significant funding from Effective Altruism’s philanthropic arm.
• Dan Hendrycks, a CAIS executive involved in the bill’s creation, had launched an AI safety compliance company that could have benefited from the legislation.
• Following this reporting, Hendrycks announced he would divest his equity stake in the company.

Looking ahead: Newsom’s veto of SB 1047 marks a significant moment in the ongoing debate about AI regulation.

• The governor has signed other AI-related bills into law, addressing issues like deepfakes and AI-generated election content.
• Policy experts are calling for continued efforts to develop effective and balanced AI regulation, emphasizing transparency and increased state capacity for AI expertise.

Broader implications: The debate surrounding SB 1047 highlights the complex challenges of regulating emerging technologies like AI.

• The veto demonstrates the power of industry pushback against perceived overreach in tech regulation.
• It also underscores the need for policymakers to carefully balance innovation, economic interests, and potential risks when crafting AI legislation.
• The episode may influence future attempts to regulate AI, both in California and other jurisdictions, as lawmakers grapple with the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.