California AI Bill Vetoed

California's governor has vetoed an AI bill that passed with flying colors in both houses of the state legislature, saying it took the wrong approach to regulating AI. The bill was controversial, but would have been the first of its kind in the US. It would have required a "kill switch" to allow creators to shut down an AI engaged in massive public harms (e.g., biowarfare), required safety testing prior to release, and given the state's regulators the ability to sue AI creators for damages. Crucially, however, it applied only to very large AI systems and their creators – ones such as those from Meta, Google, and Microsoft. The governor used this one-size-fits-all feature in rejecting the bill, calling it "well-intentioned" but ultimately not best poised to protect consumers. He encouraged a scheme more focused on addressing harms to humans than on the size of the AI itself.