California’s government’s Gavin Newsom’s AI Act Signed on Monday Democrat-led AI regulations can set precedents for what appears nationwide.
The first legislation exposes safety protocols to AI Labs and directs California to notify them of “catastrophic risks” found in the development of advanced AI models. The bill also creates additional protections to a network of whistleblowers and public data centers in the tech industry called Calcompute, which provides AI development capabilities to California-based startups.
California’s transparency in the Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, also known as Senate Bill 53, has managed to win support from both AI regulatory advocates and certain parts of the AI industry.
In the case of Newsom, the legislative victory strengthens his AI policy qualifications as Republicans reflect on the potential president of 2028 in the environment. Leading by President Donald Trumppositions itself as an AI industry Standard Bearer.
President Donald Trump holds the executive order signed after speaking at the AI Summit at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington on July 23, 2025.
Julia Demarie Nikinson/AP
“SB53 has taken a step towards providing more transparency in these AI models, which is good,” Senator Ted Liu, who led a bipartisan effort to draft a recommendation on federal AI law last year, told NotUS. “Gov. Newsom has been providing great leadership in this issue.”
Last year, Newsom Rejected an AI-friendly version of the bill After industry backlash. In a statement, Newsom said the bill he signed this year “balances that between community safety and the growth of the AI industry.” Both versions of the bill were sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener.
“AI is a new frontier of innovation, and California is not only here, but also strong as a leader of the people,” Wiener said, adding that the law “builds public trust as this emerging technology evolves rapidly.”
Will Rinehart, a senior fellow at the Center-Right American Enterprise Institute, says California law could be a “minimum viable product” for what makes a consensus version of AI regulation look like the Democrats’ industrial-promoting and regulatory wing wing wing wing wing.
“What this shows is that there is at least some kind of soft consensus about what happens with AI safety,” Rinehart told Notus. “This is the biggest law that can now go through the contract process.”
All forms of state laws that regulate California’s high-tech industry have a huge impact on the AI industry.
Large AI labs in companies, including Openai, Meta, Google and Anthropic, are headquartered in the state. Over the years, they have developed deep relationships with California politicians.
AI is a rapidly evolving technology that is increasingly affecting the way Americans find information, communication and jobs. If recent improvements in AI suggest future improvements, the leading candidates for democratic presidents could face scrutiny of AI-related platforms and policy proposals.
Rinehart has a legislative framework with support from AI labs such as humanity. I approved the bill last monthcould become a Newsom’s asset, especially if he pursues a presidency.
“He wants to show that he is trying to become a reformer, and he is also trying to grow as he is responding to his constituents on these other issues,” he said.
Even Sen. Zoe Lofgren, a solid critic of last year’s AI bill, said she felt the bill was “not perfect” but better than the AI-skeptical alternative.
“Many people in the industry didn’t think it was a perfect fit, but they think it’s a huge improvement over what New York did.
When asked about how the bill positions newspapers for its presidential campaign, Lofgren said, “I don’t think he’s an expert. Let’s just put it down.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former House speaker and another critic of last year’s AI bill, said California law “is coming in a place that’s not exactly where we wanted, but it’s far closer to what we wanted.” She did not elaborate.
Other players in the AI industry have shown some difficult support for the law.
Meta spent Hiring AI researchers will lead to hundreds of millions of dollarsand Billions of AI infrastructurein a statement to Notus called a “positive step” in the direction of “balanced” AI regulation.
Collin McCune, director of government affairs at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said in X the law “contains some thoughtful provisions that explain the clear needs of a startup.”
California law will almost certainly attract federal scrutiny as Trump directed his cabinet to identify him State laws that could interfere with innovation. So did Trump and Newsom The political enemy of the archIn a newspaper that he is late to make constant social media headlines. ock ha ha Bread the California governor as “incompetent”; dubbing He’s “Newscum.”
But Neil Chilson, a researcher at The Abnundance Institute, a right-wing political think tank, doesn’t believe that California’s bill will inevitably hinder innovation in the short term.
“The biggest developers of frontier developers have the impression that the documents they already have are primarily necessary,” Chilson told NotUS, referring to AI development safety research.
But in the long run, it’s difficult to know how the bill will be “political cuts,” Chilson said.
“What will the business environment look like in California (by 2028)?” Chilson said. “Does ordinary people in California get the advantage of these tools compared to people in Texas or Florida, for example?”
But for now, within Democrats, the California bill is a natural result of a lack of federal social media regulations that have been linked to political polarization, mental illness and misinformation for some Democrats.
“We have made misinformation and algorithms decide how young people interact on the web,” California-based Democratic strategist Mike Trujillo told NOTUS. “That lesson is being learned now.”
He added: “The lesson here should not make the same mistakes you made on social media with AI,” added Trujillo.
Some California lawmakers who have long called for regulations on the high-tech industry have agreed.
“This has happened many times with California technology. They promise good things, and they never are. The creators are OK in their own right, but when the guys in the VC come in, it’s always about return on investment – they care about the outcome.”
Newsom “is already one of the most prominent candidates,” Desaulnier said. “It’s important to be aggressive right now. People want us to fight.”
