Back
Coalition Urges Governor Newsom to Consider Vetoing SB 1047
webA coalition letter urging California Governor Newsom to veto SB 1047, a landmark AI safety bill targeting frontier model developers. Relevant to AI governance debates about whether to regulate model development versus downstream misuse.
Metadata
Importance: 42/100otherprimary source
Summary
A cross-ideological coalition letter to Governor Newsom argues SB 1047 is fundamentally flawed because it regulates AI model development rather than misuse, imposes burdensome compliance costs, and addresses only theoretical harms. The letter contends the bill would damage California's innovation economy through regulatory ambiguity and chilling effects on investment.
Key Points
- •The coalition argues SB 1047 misidentifies the problem by regulating model developers rather than bad actors who misuse AI.
- •The harms targeted (e.g., CBRN mass casualty events enabled by AI) are described as entirely theoretical with no real-world precedent.
- •Regulatory ambiguity in the bill—especially around 'covered model' thresholds tied to cloud compute pricing—would create unpredictable compliance burdens.
- •The letter claims California's unique tech ecosystem of talent, universities, and entrepreneurship would be harmed by the legislation.
- •Signatories suggest targeted legislation holding bad actors directly responsible is a preferable alternative approach.
Cached Content Preview
HTTP 200Fetched Apr 14, 20266 KB
Coalition Letters, Letters Coalition Urges Governor Newsom To Consider Vetoing SB 1047
by
Adam Thierer
Aug 27, 2024
Print
Share via Email: Coalition%20Urges%20Governor%20Newsom%20To%20Consider%20Vetoing%20SB%201047
Share via Facebook: Coalition%20Urges%20Governor%20Newsom%20To%20Consider%20Vetoing%20SB%201047
Share via Twitter: Coalition%20Urges%20Governor%20Newsom%20To%20Consider%20Vetoing%20SB%201047
Share
issues:
Artificial Intelligence , California , State Policy , Technology and Innovation
August 27, 2024
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor of California
1303 10thStreet, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Newsom:
We, the undersigned, write today to urge you to veto SB 1047, the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act . We come from across the ideological spectrum and are united in our belief that the bill would badly set back artificial intelligence (AI) in California and beyond. It is fundamentally flawed and mistargeted. SB 1047 must not become law.
SB 1047 is fundamentally flawed
We acknowledge that the bill’s supporters have adopted several amendments in good faith. However, those amendments cannot alter the bill’s fundamental problem: it regulates model development instead of misuse.
Instead, SB 1047 would require model developers to provide “reasonable care” that their models won’t create harm. We agree with the eight members of California’s congressional delegation who recently wrote to you stating that,
“Not only is it unreasonable to expect developers to completely control what end users do with their products, but it is difficult if not impossible to certify certain outcomes without undermining the rights of end users, including their privacy rights.” [1]
Any potential misuse of AI can be addressed with legislation that holds bad actors directly responsible. Indeed, the legislature has advanced a number of bills that would do exactly that.
Worse, the harms SB 1047 seeks to address are entirely theoretical
SB 1047 is designed to limit the potential for “critical harm” which includes “the creation or use of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapon in a manner that results in mass casualties.” These harms are theoretical . There are no real-world examples of third parties misusing foundation models to cause mass casualty events. Moreover, the latest independent academic research concludes, “Large language models like ChatGPT cannot learn independently or acquire new skills, meaning they pose no existential threat to humanity.” [2]
In contrast, the damage to California’s innovation economy is all too real . SB 1047 would introduce burdensome compliance costs and broad regulatory uncertainty as to which models are in scope.
The amended text specifically empowers the Government Operations Agency to revise definitions, including “covered model.” T
... (truncated, 6 KB total)Resource ID:
4589e600d8327ee9 | Stable ID: sid_lFQaR11mrA