How Big Tech is trying to shut down California’s AI rules

Andrew Freedman, co-founder of new AI safety nonprofit Fathom, said legislation from California state Sen. Jerry McNerney that would establish voluntary review panels to test AI programs could be taken up by other states, creating an AI policy “that can be national, even if it’s not federal.” ...

Despite what (Dean) Ball described as “internal conflict” within the AI industry over how Washington should preempt the states, he said he believes that “OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind and even Meta could get in a room together and come up with something.”

He said the “lowest-hanging fruit” for the tech industry to rally behind would be a federal “liability standard” that shields AI developers from most legal liability in exchange for their adherence to technical standards. Some state laws, including McNerney’s, envision similar protections as part of a broader regulatory framework for AI.

“I would guess that that is where the conversation is going to be in six months,” Ball said.

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