California’s next steps on AI

The ink is barely dry on an AI law Gov. Gavin Newsom says is critical to the state’s plans to make the tech safer, but the state senator who wrote it is already planning how to sharpen its teeth.

State Sen. Jerry McNerney wants to make outside evaluations of certain AI programs mandatory. He did not vow to introduce legislation in the new year, but made clear he thinks policy should go further in requiring tech companies to submit to independent safety assessments for some of their AI products.

McNerney and other California policymakers sense a political opening, with fears about runaway AI elevated by a steady stream of disclosures by OpenAI and other companies about their programs going rogue to hack into outside computer systems.

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