A coalition of advocacy groups, including the Center for Digital Democracy, the Center for AI and Digital Policy and Technology Surveillance, California, wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, urging him to sign SB 53.
The group claimed that regulators were unable to act when social media emerged nearly 20 years ago, and that artificial intelligence is now demanding such guardrails.
Governor Newsom must sign or reject SB 53 until October 12th. California has pocket signature rules that allow the law to become law if the governor fails to act.
“Fifteen years ago, our policymakers failed to see what was coming and acted to protect the masses,” reads the letter. “The California SB 53 provides the opportunity to do basic transparency measurements to ensure that AI doesn’t catch you off guard, just like it was on social media.”
The coalition advocates a “trust-verified” strategy in which AI developers can publish safety plans, report serious cases to national authorities, and protect whistleblowers from retaliation. The proposed law is based on a California report on Frontier AI Policy published in June.
The letter warns that without this transparency, it is home to 32 of California’s top 50 companies, and could be caught off guard again by widespread harm, especially for young people, and emphasizes that the bill will limit its requirements to only the most powerful AI companies.
“Many large Internet technology companies have already integrated the most advanced AI systems directly into existing services, meaning that millions of young people on these platforms will be exposed to the world’s most advanced AI systems,” reads the letter. “This makes it even more important to ensure that these systems are generally safe.”
