AI Field Notes: California crunch time yields crop of approved AI bills
AI Field Notes is an occasional column covering movements and trends in the AI policy world.
Updated August 30, 2024, updated 8:06am PDT
As the California legislature enters its frantic final 72 hours, it’s becoming clear that Sacramento lawmakers weren’t joking when they vowed to make progress on artificial intelligence issues this session. This year’s regular session is scheduled to adjourn this coming Saturday, Aug. 31, and we’re seeing a number of AI-related bills cross the finish line.
On Tuesday, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin’s groundbreaking Training Data Transparency Act (AB 2013) received final approval—a resounding 75-0 floor vote in the Assembly—and now sits on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. This is a bill the Transparency Coalition has been actively supporting and following all year. Its passage represents a major step forward for safety and transparency in AI.
Assembly members followed up on Wednesday by passing AB 2355, which requires all AI-generated or AI-assisted images, video, or audio used in political ads to clearly disclose the use of AI. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol the Senate gave final approval to AB 2655, the Defending Democracy From Deepfake Deception Act. That measure requires large online platforms to block the posting of materially deceptive content related to elections in California during specified periods before and after an election.
SB 1047 passes, moves to Governor’s desk
The Hot Topic of 2024 moved to the Governor’s desk: State Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 1047, the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, received final approval on the Senate floor on Thursday, 29-9. Wiener’s bill has been fought over, chewed through, lauded, blasted, amended, loved, and feared lo these past few months. Everybody from the Wall Street Journal to Elon Musk has weighed in. While we admire the ambition and spirit of the effort, we remain a bit wary of the bill in its much-amended form, as TCAI founders Rob Eleveld and Jai Jaisimha explained in a recent Tech Policy Press piece.
Also Thursday, State Sen. Josh Becker’s SB 942, the AI Transparency Act, received final approval in a 34-2 floor vote in the Senate. The bill would require large generative artificial intelligence system providers to label AI-generated images, videos and audio created by their models. The Transparency Coalition has also advocated for SB 942 as one of our top priority bills in Sacramento this year. The San Mateo Daily Journal noted that several tech industry groups announced last week that they would drop their opposition after changes were made to the bill.
More action expected today
As of Friday morning two more AI-related bills, both authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, were still in motion. AB 1008 would add to California’s definition of sensitive personal information, including for the first time a new category of “neural data” generated by measuring a consumer’s nervous system activity. The bill has passed the Assembly and is now before the Senate. Bauer-Kahan’s AB 2930, affecting automated decision systems, also remains alive in the Senate. It would require developers and deployers of automated decision systems to perform impact assessments on those systems before deployment and annually thereafter.
California setting standards
Colorado lawmakers made headlines earlier this year when they passed the nation’s most sweeping suite of AI-related bills. But with their actions this week California’s legislators are bidding to establish the Golden State as the gold standard for AI policy that nurtures innovation while enhancing safety and transparency.
We know you’re heading out for the holiday weekend very soon—but keep an eye on Sacramento now and then. We suspect the action won’t stop until the clock strikes twelve on Saturday night.