California lawmakers are scheduled to vote later this week on a bill that would comprehensively regulate the development and use of artificial intelligence in California, despite widespread opposition from a number of technology giants.

Here’s some background on the bill, known as SB 1047, and why it has drawn fierce criticism from Silicon Valley tech experts and some lawmakers:

What does the bill achieve?

The proposal, introduced by Democratic Senator Scott Wiener, would require safety testing for many of the most advanced AI models that cost more than $100 million to develop or require a certain level of computing power. AI software developers working in the state would also have to establish methods for shutting down the AI ​​models if they are not working properly – effectively a kill switch.

The bill would also give states’ attorneys general the power to sue developers if they fail to comply, particularly in the case of an ongoing threat, such as AI taking over government systems like the power grid.

The bill would also require developers to hire third-party auditors to evaluate their security practices and provide additional protections for whistleblowers who speak out against AI abuse.

What did the legislators say?

SB 1047 has already passed the state Senate by a vote of 32-1. Last week, it passed the state Assembly Budget Committee, which means it will face a vote in the full Assembly. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on August 31, it will go to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature or veto by September 30.

Wiener, who represents San Francisco, where OpenAI and many of the startups developing the powerful software are based, believes regulations are needed to protect the public before advances in artificial intelligence become unwieldy or uncontrollable.

However, a group of California congressional Democrats oppose the bill. They include Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, Ro Khanna, whose congressional district includes much of Silicon Valley, and Zoe Lofgren of San Jose.

Pelosi this week called SB 1047 ill-informed and said it could do more harm than good. In an open letter last week, Democrats said the bill could drive developers out of the state and threaten so-called open-source AI models that are based on code that is freely available for anyone to use or modify.

What do technology leaders say?

Technology companies that develop AI — which can respond to prompts with fully fleshed-out text, images or audio and perform repetitive tasks with minimal intervention — have called for stronger safeguards for the use of AI, citing, among other things, the risk that the software could one day evade human intervention and trigger cyberattacks. But they largely opposed SB 1047.

Wiener revised the bill to satisfy tech companies, relying in part on input from AI startup Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon and Alphabet. Among other things, he eliminated the creation of a state AI oversight board.

Wiener also introduced criminal penalties against perjury, although civil suits can still be brought.

Alphabet’s Google and Meta have raised concerns in letters to Wiener. Meta said the bill threatens to make the state unfavorable to AI development and deployment. Facebook parent company chief scientist Yann LeCun called the bill potentially damaging to research efforts in a July X post.

OpenAI, whose ChatGPT has been responsible for accelerating the hype around AI since its wide release in late 2022, believes that AI should be regulated by the federal government and that SB 1047 creates an uncertain legal environment.

In a letter to Wiener, OpenAI said the company opposes SB 1047 because it poses a threat to the growth of AI and could cause entrepreneurs and engineers to leave the state.

Of particular concern is the possibility that the bill will also apply to open-source AI models. Many tech workers believe that open-source models are important for developing less risky AI applications more quickly, but Meta and others worry that they could be held responsible for policing open-source models should the bill pass. Wiener has said he supports open-source models, and one of the bill’s recent amendments raised the standard by which open-source models fall under its provisions.

There are also supporters of the law in the technology sector. Geoffrey Hinton, commonly considered the “godfather of AI”, former OpenAI employee Daniel Kokotajlo and researcher Yoshua Bengio have stated that they support the law.

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