California’s AI Safety Bill Is a Mask-Off Moment for the Industry

California 's SB 1047 would create one of the country’s first regulatory regimes specifically designed for AI .

The bill passed the state Senate nearly unopposed and is awaiting a vote in the state Assembly .

Critics say it would make it legal to jail start-up founders for innocent paperwork mistakes; cede the US AI lead to China ; and destroy open-source development.

TechNet and other industry associations argue that AI safety is already “appropriately being addressed at the federal level” and that we should wait for in-progress national AI safety standards.

The nearest thing to industry support has come from Anthropic , the most safety-oriented top AI company.

Anthropic published a “support if amended” letter requesting extensive changes to the bill.

California bill aims at the largest AI developers in the world and has strong support from tech workers.

Opponents of SB 1047 are eager to frame it as a radical, industry-destroying measure driven by fears of an imminent sci-fi robot takeover.

It's hard to argue that AI will be as important as the industrial revolution, but also that there’s no risk that it could enable catastrophes.