California governor vetoes AI regulations [Video]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the most ambitious — and contentious — bill approved by the Legislature this year to regulate artificial intelligence.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1047, would have required testing of AI models to determine whether they would likely lead to mass death, endanger public infrastructure or enable severe cyberattacks.

Newsom in his veto letter criticized the bill for potentially “curtailing the very innovation that fuels advancement in favor of the public good.” He also said it would have needlessly regulated AI used in low-risk situations and that it was written without enough research.

“A California-only approach may well be warranted — especially absent federal action by Congress — but it must be based on empirical evidence and science,” he wrote.

The bill applied only to the costliest AI models, needing $100 million or more to develop, and Newsom objected to that threshold, …