California can fill in for Federal government inaction on AI, even spills over globally

“We’re still waiting to see what proposals actually become law, but the massive number of A.I. bills introduced in states like California shows just how interested lawmakers are in this topic,” he said. And the state proposals are having a ripple effect globally, said Victoria Espinel, the chief executive of the Business Software Alliance, a lobbying group representing big software companies. “Countries around the world are looking at these drafts for ideas that can influence their decisions on A.I. laws,” she said. More than a year ago, a new wave of generative A.I. like OpenAI’s ChatGPT provoked regulatory concern as it became clear the technology had the potential to disrupt the global economy. U.S. lawmakers held several hearings to investigate the technology’s potential to replace workers, violate copyrights and even threaten human existence. The OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman testified before Congress and called for federal regulations roughly a year ago. Soon after, Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta; and Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, gathered in Washington for an A.I. forum hosted by the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York. The tech leaders warned of the risks their products presented and called for Congress to create guardrails. They also asked for support for domestic A.I. research to ensure the United States could maintain its lead in developing the technology. At the time, Mr. Schumer and other U.S. lawmakers said they wouldn’t repeat past mistakes of failing to rein in emerging technology before it became harmful. Last month, Mr. Schumer introduced an A.I. regulation road map that proposed $38 billion in investments, but few specific guardrails on the technology in the near term. This year, federal lawmakers have introduced bills to create an agency to oversee A.I. regulations, proposals to clamp down on disinformation generated by A.I. and privacy laws for A.I. models. But most tech policy experts say they don’t expect federal proposals to pass this year. “Clearly there is a need for harmonized federal legislation,” said Michael Karanicolas, executive director of the Institute for Technology, Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. State and global regulators have rushed to fill the gap. In March, the European Union adopted the AI Act, a law that curbs law enforcement’s use of tools that can discriminate, like facial recognition software. The surge of state A.I. legislation has touched off a fierce lobbying effort by tech companies against the proposals. That effort is particularly pronounced in Sacramento, the California capital, where nearly every tech lobbying group has expanded its staff to lobby the Legislature. The 30 bills that were passed out of either the Senate or Assembly will now go to various committees for further consideration before the Legislature ends its session later this summer. Democrats there control the Assembly, Senate and governor’s office. “We’re in a unique position because we are the fourth-largest economy on the planet and where so many tech innovators are,” said Josh Lowenthal, an Assembly member and Democrat, who introduced a bill aimed at protecting young people online. “As a result, we are expected to be leaders and we expect that of ourselves.” Three of those bills are designed to protect actors and singers, living or dead. SAG-AFTRA, the union for actors and other creators, helped write a bill that would require studios to obtain explicit consent from actors for the use of their digital replicas. The union said the public has expressed strong support for intellectual property protections after high-profile conflicts between actors and A.I. companies. Last month, for instance, the actress Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice to develop a voice assistant without her permission. OpenAI has denied the accusation. California is an important battleground because “the Legislature tends to be progressive and believes strongly in consumer protection and worker rights,” said Duncan Crabtree Ireland, the strategic and creative chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA. “But it is also where five of the six biggest A.I. companies in the world are based.”