California is deciding who may verify AI, and one investigation already cost $400,000 in tokens

California’s legislature has passed SB 813, requiring the state to certify independent verification organisations that can test frontier AI models by January 2028. The METR investigation into OpenAI’s Hugging Face incident consumed about $400,000 in API credits provided free by OpenAI, using a model from the same family that took part in the attack.

California’s legislature has passed a bill creating a framework for independent organisations that can test frontier AI models before release, Semafor reported.

SB 813, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney, requires the state’s Government Operations Agency to certify independent verification organisations by 1 January 2028. The Assembly concurred in amendments on 30 August.

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