Elon Musk backs California bill to regulate AI

SACRAMENTO, California — Elon Musk on Monday voiced his support for one of the most polarizing artificial intelligence policy proposals in the nation, backing a California bill that would require large-scale models to undergo safety testing.

Senate Bill 1047 has been lambasted by tech giants like Marc Andreesen and OpenAI for what they say are vague and burdensome regulations that would have a chilling effect on open-sourced models. Its author, Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, says he’s trying to prevent catastrophic harm to humanity, such as bad actors using AI to develop biological weapons.

Musk, in a post on X , said the decision to support the bill was a “tough call and will probably make some people upset,” but that he thinks it should pass. His endorsement comes at a critical inflection point for the proposal, which must pass the Legislature by the end of the week to get to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

“For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public,” he wrote.

As the head of Tesla, X, and SpaceX, Musk has previously urged leading artificial intelligence labs to pause the training of new super-powerful systems , but more recently has embraced generative AI. X recently launched a tool called Grok, allowing users to create and post computer-generated images based on a text prompt. That’s already raised alarms about misinformation and deep fakes flooding the social media platform .

Musk’s position puts him at odds with not only powerful players in Silicon Valley, but several Democrats in Congress who have spoken out against the bill in recent weeks — including Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Ro Khanna, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi .

It also creates a bit of an awkward dynamic for Wiener, who has engaged in heated debates with Musk over legislation protecting the privacy of LGBTQ youth .

Wiener did not immediately comment on Musk’s support.