The Governor signed Senate Bill 813, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney (D \u2013 Pleasanton), which establishes a first-in-the-nation framework for independent verification organizations that can assess AI systems and models for compliance with state law. Governor Newsom also signed Assembly Bill 1405, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), creating a state registry for AI auditors and establishing standards for their independence, transparency, and integrity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Together, the bills establish a framework for independent third-party evaluation and audits, laying the foundation for greater transparency and accountability as AI becomes increasingly embedded in critical sectors of California\u2019s economy and public life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI has the potential to improve our lives, but without effective guardrails, it poses significant risks. Just this week we learned that the most powerful AI systems teamed with AI agents pose real threats to humanity,\u201d said Senator McNerney. \u201cGov. Newsom\u2019s signing of SB 813 sends a clear message that California is taking the lead on assessing AI\u2019s safety risks, since Washington, D.C., is unable or unwilling to do so. This landmark law codifies one of the primary recommendations of the governor\u2019s blue-ribbon panel on AI by establishing independent, third-party evaluations of artificial intelligence to help ensure that the technology remains safe and beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Governor Newsom, for protecting Californians from the risks we know are emerging from AI,\u201d said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. \u201cCalifornians deserve to know that the AI systems and models shaping their lives are safe and secure. We cannot expect industry to simply grade its own homework; third-party auditors are essential to ensuring AI is safe for our communities and critical infrastructure. The auditors will be able to identify risks, verify claims, and hold developers to meaningful standards. AB 1405 is groundbreaking legislation that for the first time establishes a mechanism for credible third-party auditing, laying the groundwork for meaningful oversight of the AI technologies that touch our lives every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
California is building safeguards as AI accelerates<\/p>\n
California has been the longstanding national leader in AI safety. In 2023, Governor Newsom issued a first-of-its-kind executive order<\/a> directing the state to safely use AI for the benefit of Californians; identify potential risks to individuals, communities, state government, and state workers; and implement guardrails to ensure the government\u2019s use of AI protects Californians\u2019 rights and safety.<\/p>\n In 2024<\/a>, the Governor signed a nation-leading comprehensive package of AI legislation<\/a> addressing issues including deepfakes, AI watermarking, children and workers. The Administration also convened leading AI academics and experts<\/a> to develop a science-based framework for understanding the capabilities and risks of frontier models.<\/p>\n In 2025, Governor Newsom signed the nation\u2019s strongest AI safety law \u2014 SB 53<\/a>, California\u2019s Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act \u2014 which requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose their safety frameworks, report certain critical safety incidents to the state and protects whistleblowers who report serious risks. California also established the first child online safety protections<\/a> around AI companion chatbots in the country and strengthened automated decisionmaking technology privacy regulations<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Governor Newsom issued an executive order<\/a> to further strengthen privacy and civil liberties protections around California\u2019s procurement processes and raise the trust and safety bar for artificial intelligence companies seeking to do business with the state. He also launched a Tech Fraud Task Force<\/a> to collaborate with the private sector to crack down on AI-enabled fraud.\u00a0 In August, Governor Newsom announced a first-in-the-nation AI Cyber Defense Program<\/a> within the California Cybersecurity Integration Center to strengthen defenses against emerging AI-enabled cyber threats. The program will use AI to help detect vulnerabilities, harden networks and support incident response, while expanding access to advanced cybersecurity capabilities for local governments and critical infrastructure partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n Innovation, safety, and accountability must move together<\/p>\n California is home to the world\u2019s leading AI companies<\/a>, researchers, and innovators. The state\u2019s approach is to harness and foster that extraordinary capacity while ensuring that the technology develops in a way that protects the public, improves public well-being, and earns public trust. This is why we have leveraged AI to streamline access to government services<\/a>, improve road safety<\/a>, expedite housing permits<\/a>, and improve wildfire detection<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As AI capabilities continue to accelerate, California is continuing to strengthen transparency, protect whistleblowers, defend critical infrastructure and ensure meaningful human oversight.<\/p>\n And while California keeps leading, the speed and scale of the technology and its associated risks demand a national response. Governor Newsom continues to call on the federal government to establish robust national regulations that protect the public while allowing responsible innovation to flourish. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Governor signed Senate Bill 813, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney (D \u2013 Pleasanton), which establishes a first-in-the-nation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-459239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}