A State’s Issue

Two tech-minded California lawmakers say the Golden State needs to step up on artificial intelligence safety as Trump guts federal guardrails and blows off clean energy goals to court the industry titans developing the cutting-edge technology.

“This is an administration that does not believe in regulating any aspect of the tech sector, other than bullying social media platforms to bend the knee,” state Sen. Scott Wiener told Playbook. “If we’re going to protect the public while also promoting innovation, it’s going to have to happen at the state level.”

To catch you up: Trump annihilated a cornerstone of former President Joe Biden’s AI safety legacy mere hours after taking office Monday by repealing his 2023 executive order that outlined U.S. efforts to govern advanced AI models. Then yesterday the president announced a $500 billion joint venture from tech companies OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle to build more of the energy-intensive data centers needed to power AI models.

That growth-above-all mindset is exactly what Sacramento Democrats are wary of. State Sen. Jerry McNerney, who co-chaired the AI Caucus during his 16-year stint in Congress, told Playbook it’s California’s responsibility to “fill the void” on AI safety protections as Trump pulls back on regulations.

“Tech has reached into our lives and privacy with no regard to our interest or well-being, and this repeal opens up the power of AI to magnify these potentially harmful intrusions,” McNerney said.

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