Joseph Gordon-Levitt criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom, saying he is “too scared” to sign a bill imposing additional regulations on artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to children.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that the governor vetoed a bill that would prohibit companies from making AI chatbots available to people under 18 unless they can guarantee that the robots do not engage in sexual conversations or encourage self-harm. Newsom attributed his decision to the bill’s “broad restrictions” on AI, which he believed “could inadvertently lead to a blanket ban on the use of these products by minors.”
Nevertheless, he signed legislation requiring platforms to notify users that they are interacting with an AI chatbot rather than a human, and to maintain protocols to prevent self-harm content.
Gordon-Levitt, who has been an active voice against AI, criticized Newsom in a video posted to X, saying Newsom is “not telling the truth” about the bill he signed into law that “claims to protect children from predatory AI peers.” The actor accused the bill of having “loopholes and legal language that have allowed big tech companies free rein for far too long.”
“While he signed this do-nothing bill, he actually vetoed a good bill that would have brought Big Tech companies closer to the fire and forced them to change their products to make them better for kids,” he continued. “But Mr. Newsom was too scared to sign it. What was he scared of? Well, just weeks before the deadline to sign or veto all these bills that could regulate AI, Big Tech, Google, Meta, Op. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that enAI launched a huge super PAC worth hundreds of millions of dollars aimed at attacking candidates who might regulate AI. Maybe Newsom was scared that those hundreds of millions of dollars were real.” If it is aimed at attacking him, it could hurt his chances of winning the presidency in a few years if he runs. ”
The Emmy Award-winning actor concluded the video by saying, “It’s a shame because there’s a lot to like about Governor Newsom. I think he’s done a good job in standing up against Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism in this country. But you know, in my opinion, the rise of authoritarianism here and around the world is largely due to these algorithms. It’s the attention-maximizing algorithms that drive social media products and now AI products that are bringing in so much profit.” Fund these companies. ”
These comments also come shortly after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT will soon allow erotica for adult users.
Gordon-Levitt has repeatedly spoken out against AI. In July, he denounced “the unethical business practices of major AI companies,” particularly those that target creatives. “The truth is, today’s GenAI could not produce anything without ‘training data,’ the text, photos, videos, and other artifacts where digital ones and zeros are shredded by algorithms and spit out as something new.” “For more than five years, AI companies have been raking in massive amounts of content without permission or offering compensation to the people who created the work essential to this new technology.” It added: “These technology products are not human, and our laws should not protect algorithmic data processing in the same way they protect human ingenuity and effort.” comment
