Governor of the U.S. State of California vetoed a bill on Sunday that would have introduced the nation's strictest regulations on artificial intelligence, according to The Washington Post.
The bill, S.B. 1047, sought to mandate testing of the most advanced AI systems before their release and hold developers liable if the technology was used for harmful activities, such as terrorism.
Critics of the bill argued it would stifle innovation and make AI development too risky legally. They suggested that penalties should target individuals who misuse AI, rather than developers.
Supporters of the bill, including prominent AI researchers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, argued that it would simply formalize safety measures that tech companies had already committed to voluntarily.
Governor Gavin Newsom said the bill unfairly targeted AI projects based on computing power without considering the actual use of the technology.
"I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology," Newsom said. "A California-only approach may well be warranted -- especially absent federal action by Congress -- but it must be based on empirical evidence and science."
The governor also announced plans to collaborate with leading academics to create "workable guardrails" for AI deployment.
