GoKawiilNewsom signs worker-protection AI laws; kill-switch mandate still under study
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation barring employers from using AI to infer workers' emotional states via biometric data, requiring written notice when AI causes mass layoffs, and banning AI-only firing decisions. The state will also expand tracking of AI's economic effects through an AI Unemployment Tracker and public input via Engaged California. Separately, Newsom's earlier executive orders direct the state to explore requiring a 'kill switch' for advanced AI models, an idea backed by Rep. Ted Lieu but criticized by the Free Software Foundation's Greg Farough as a dangerous precedent.