The author of SB 1047 introduces a new AI bill in California

The author of California’s SB 1047, the nation’s most controversial AI safety bill of 2024, is back with a new AI bill that could shake up Silicon Valley. California state Senator Scott Wiener introduced a new bill on Friday that would protect employees at leading AI labs, allowing them to speak out if they think their company’s AI systems could be a “critical risk” to society. The new bill, SB 53, would also create a public cloud computing cluster, called CalCompute, to give researchers and startups the necessary computing resources to develop AI that benefits the public. Wiener’s last AI bill, California’s SB 1047, sparked a lively debate across the country around how to handle massive AI systems that could cause disasters. SB 1047 aimed to prevent the possibility of very large AI models creating catastrophic events, such as causing loss of life or cyberattacks costing more than $500 million in damages. However, Governor Gavin Newsom ultimately vetoed the bill in September, saying ... Read full article.