SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a sweeping California bill meant to impose safety vetting requirements for powerful AI models, siding with much of Silicon Valley and leading congressional Democrats in the most high-profile fight in the Legislature this year.
Newsom said in a veto message that the legislation “does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data.”
“Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it,” Newsom said. “I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.”
California’s battle took on outsize dimensions because the bill would have set a de facto national standard for the technology. Newsom has faced fierce lobbying from the state’s economic and political powers, including Hollywood actors , prominent tech companies and investors, as well as influential House members like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The tech-friendly governor has for months warned against stymying California’s burgeoning AI industry and undermining the state’s economic competitiveness, but he has also said California must lead on responsible regulation.
Newsom signed a less-sweeping bill that requires California’s emergency response agency to study AI risks. He paired his veto with a light-on-details commitment to formulate legislation that imposes guardrails on AI, working with academic luminaries like Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a Stanford professor who opposed the bill .
Newsom also said he would work with organized labor and private businesses to expand workplace applications for AI, building on a series of pilot projects with state agencies that have explored using AI to manage traffic management and streamline customer service for public benefits.
The bill from state Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, would have required the largest AI models to certify safety testing before deployment with the aim of protecting people from potential dangers like the creation of bioweapons.
Proponents argued it was California’s best chance to regulate the fast-moving technology — a field largely being driven by tech companies with California headquarters and global operations. State lawmakers have hoped to lead the way in the face of inaction from Congress, spurred in part by a widespread belief policymakers had waited too long to rein in social media.
Wiener, in a statement, said Newsom's veto means the companies creating the most powerful AI systems face no restrictions from policymakers.
"This veto is a missed opportunity to California to once again lead on innovative tech regulation... and we are all less safe as a result."
But the bill divided Silicon Valley . Leading researchers and Elon Musk supported the measure as a way to help mitigate potential risks to the public, while o pponents such as Google and OpenAI argued its requirements would unduly burden developers, especially small startups. Influential venture capital firms hired Sacramento lobbyists as prominent investor Ron Conway rallied opponents.
Wiener also faced strong opposition from Democrats in Congress who represented areas in and around Silicon Valley, including Pelosi and Rep. Ro Khanna . One of his closest allies, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, warned the measure would undermine the city’s economy . Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House committee overseeing technology, came out in opposition and personally lobbied lawmakers.
Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, has long maintained close ties with Silicon Valley. His office has taken steps in the last year to integrate AI into state government, including penning an agreement with chip developer Nvidia to create AI training programs and supporting the addition of an “AI accelerator” in a deal with Google to fund local journalism .
Concerns about AI’s potentially negative fallout dominated Sacramento’s legislative year, with lawmakers advancing dozens of bills to curb the technology’s impact on elections, workers and public safety. Technology companies and business groups like the California Chamber of Commerce fought back, warning some of those proposals would unduly burden businesses and impinge on free speech.
Newsom has delivered some wins to advocates for tougher rules, signing bills backed by actors’ unions to limit the use of digital likenesses that could replace entertainers and enacting laws cracking down on “deepfakes” impersonating political candidates.
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