CA Governor Newsom’s allegiance to tech companies tested by AI bill

California is about to find out whether Governor Gavin Newsom is a wholly owned subsidiary of the state’s influential Big Tech companies, or just a partial one. It is a near certainty that the Democrat-controlled California Legislature will send to Newsom a bill that would make the state a regulator of artificial intelligence development. Placing California in a high-profile leadership position is frequently an opportunity that Newsom has seized without hesitation. But the governor has yet to cross swords with this powerful business sector and has done its bidding so far.

The future of artificial intelligence in California is too big an issue to fly under the radar—Newsom’s about to reveal the depth of his tech allegiances. OPINION The Big Tech litmus test is Senate Bill 1047 by Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who is accustomed to advancing some heavyweight legislation that rankles one influential stakeholder or another. SB 1047, the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, is a big deal. It would give the state new powers in regulating these powerful computer models that can perform tasks that only humans could once do and create life-like images that are purely fake.