California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order calling for independent audits of artificial intelligence companies and faster development of emergency shutdown mechanisms for the models they develop.
The California governor’s office said the order was prepared following recent incidents involving risks associated with artificial intelligence. The measure aims to strengthen the state’s laws on AI safety.
Expert group given two months
An expert group to be established under the order will prepare guidelines on AI safety within two months. Some of the leading companies in the artificial intelligence industry operate in California.
Newsom argued that executives of artificial intelligence companies were calling for regulation, while the federal government had failed to establish a meaningful oversight and accountability mechanism. Newsom said the risks were too high to allow delays in taking action and that they would accelerate comprehensive oversight efforts before it was too late.
Proposal to slow development
Dario Amodei, CEO of the US-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic, published an article after company researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, saying that the AI development process was not being conducted responsibly.
Amodei warned that the rapid advancement of the technology could strain the ability to understand and control artificial intelligence systems. He proposed slowing the pace of AI development in a way that would expand oversight capabilities and urged companies to establish common safety standards.
Elon Musk supported Amodei’s proposal. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he agreed with the proposal and would take a similar step on independent assessments.
The US and China’s approach to artificial intelligence
US President Donald Trump argued that a pathological conspiracy was being waged against artificial intelligence and data centers. Trump claimed that China would be the only side that could welcome this situation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that stoking fears, confrontation and ruthless competition would harm global AI governance.
