As Congress grapples with AI regulation, will California step up?

San Francisco Chronicle / July 17, 2023

SACRAMENTO — Much of the debate about whether the government should regulate artificial intelligence has centered on Congress, where top AI voices have testified in highly publicized hearings.

But with a gridlocked Congress, some lawmakers and tech experts see the much more agile California Legislature as a key player in the debate. Gov. Gavin Newsom told The Chronicle he’s also starting to focus on the issue.

Newsom said he’s taking a “deep dive” into artificial intelligence now that he’s wrapped up budget negotiations for the year. In an interview at the end of last month, he said he spent his day in San Francisco getting briefed on the technology “from the source.”

SNIP

“We’ve been diving very deep into the subject matter and trying to figure all this damn stuff out,” Newsom said.

Link (probably paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-ai-regulation-18160972.php

Highlights from the link:

• Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, introduced the first major California bill to regulate AI.

• The bill would have banned companies from using AI-powered algorithms that discriminate against people, but was shelved in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in May.

• Bauer-Kahan said she thinks the Committee balked at the potential costs to enforce her bill in the face of a projected $31 billion budget shortfall.

• Regulations being advanced by the European Union would require companies to disclose information about how their AI systems work and limit the use of facial recognition software.

------------

Thrilled to see Newsom taking a lead. I think it would help having the European Union doing parallel research.