California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to dramatically accelerate the implementation of new third-party oversight of safety and security risks in AI systems, as well as independent audits.
The executive order convenes a group of world-leading experts to provide, within two months, a guide to help California reinforce and strengthen its AI safety and security laws.
Proposals under consideration include requiring independent third parties to write safety plans for frontier AI companies, as well as requiring companies to develop an emergency shutoff, or “kill switch,” for frontier models.
“We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late. We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action,” Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday.
Virginia tightens oversight
Meanwhile, the state of Virginia is tightening permitting, commercial and environmental controls on data centres as political backlash grows against the server warehouses and the technology developed within them, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced.
The move follows a spate of recent similar steps taken by governors in New York, Texas and Pennsylvania to crack down on the rapid expansion of data centres, which are increasingly being developed to train and roll out artificial intelligence.
Virginia's "Data Centre Accountability Framework" aims to ease public concerns about data centre development secrecy and the impact energy-intensive facilities have on power bills and the environment, Spanberger told a press conference.
"Community members are demanding action," Spanberger said.
