California’s New Ai Safety Law Shows Regulation And Innovation don’t have To Clash 

SB 53, nan AI safety and transparency bill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into rule this week, is impervious that authorities regulation doesn’t have to inhibit AI progress.  

So says Adam Billen, vice president of nationalist argumentation astatine youth-led defense group Encode AI, on today’s section of Equity. 

“The reality is that argumentation makers themselves cognize that we person to do something, and they cognize from moving connected a cardinal different issues that location is simply a measurement to walk authorities that genuinely does protect innovation — which I do attraction about — while making judge that these products are safe,” Billen told TechCrunch. 

At its core, SB 53 is a first-in-the-nation bill that requires ample AI labs to beryllium transparent astir their information and information protocols – specifically astir really they forestall their models from catastrophic risks, for illustration being utilized to commit cyber attacks on captious infrastructure aliases build bio-weapons. The rule besides mandates that companies instrumentality to those protocols, which will beryllium enforced by nan Office of Emergency Services.  

“Companies are already doing nan worldly that we inquire them to do successful this bill,” Billen told TechCrunch. “They do information testing connected their models. They merchandise exemplary cards. Are they starting to skimp successful immoderate areas at some companies? Yes. And that’s why bills for illustration this are important.” 

Billen besides noted that some AI firms person a argumentation astir relaxing information standards nether competitory pressure. OpenAI, for example, has publicly stated that it may “adjust” its information requirements if a rival AI laboratory releases a high-risk strategy without akin safeguards. Billen argues that argumentation tin enforce companies’ existing information promises, preventing them from cutting corners nether competitory aliases financial pressure. 

While nationalist guidance to SB 53 was muted in comparison to its predecessor SB 1047, which Newsom vetoed past year, nan rhetoric successful Silicon Valley and among astir AI labs has been that almost any AI regulation is anathema to advancement and will ultimately hinder the U.S. successful its title to hit China.  

It’s why companies for illustration Meta, VCs for illustration Andreessen Horowitz, and powerful individuals for illustration OpenAI president Greg Brockman are collectively pumping hundreds of millions into ace PACs to backmost pro-AI politicians successful authorities elections. And it’s why those aforesaid forces earlier this twelvemonth pushed for an AI moratorium that would person banned states from regulating AI for 10 years.  

Encode AI ran a conjugation of much than 200 organizations to activity to strike down nan proposal, but Billen says the fight isn’t over. Senator Ted Cruz, who championed nan moratorium, is attempting a caller strategy to execute nan aforesaid extremity of national preemption of authorities laws. In September, Cruz introduced the SANDBOX Act, which would let AI companies to use for waivers to temporarily bypass definite national regulations for up to 10 years. Billen also anticipates a forthcoming measure establishing a national AI standard that would beryllium sounded arsenic a middle-ground solution but would successful reality override authorities laws. 

He warned that narrowly scoped federal AI authorities could “delete federalism for nan astir important exertion of our time.” 

“If you told maine SB 53 was nan measure that would switch each nan authorities bills connected everything related to AI and each of nan imaginable risks, I would show you that’s astir apt not a very bully thought and that this measure is designed for a peculiar subset of things,” Billen said.  

Adam Billet, vice president of nationalist policy, Encode AIImage Credits:Encode AI

While he agrees that nan AI title pinch China matters, and that policymakers request to enact regularisation that will support American progress, he says sidesplitting authorities bills – which mainly attraction connected deepfakes, transparency, algorithmic discrimination, children’s safety, and governmental usage of AI — isn’t nan measurement to spell astir doing that. 

“Are bills for illustration SB 53 nan point that will extremity america from beating China? No,” he said. “I deliberation it is conscionable genuinely intellectually dishonest to opportunity that that is nan point that will extremity america successful nan race.” 

He added: “If nan point you attraction astir is beating China successful nan title connected AI — and I do attraction astir that – past nan things you would push for are worldly for illustration export controls successful Congress,” Billen said. “You would make judge that American companies person the chips. But that’s not what nan manufacture is pushing for.” 

Legislative proposals for illustration the Chip Security Act aim to forestall nan diversion of precocious AI chips to China done export controls and search devices, and nan existing CHIPS and Science Act seeks to boost home spot production. However, immoderate awesome tech companies, including OpenAI and Nvidia, person expressed reluctance or opposition to definite aspects of these efforts, citing concerns about effectiveness, competitiveness, and information vulnerabilities.  

Nvidia has its reasons – it has a beardown financial inducement to proceed trading chips to China, which has historically represented a important portion of its world revenue. Billen speculated that OpenAI could clasp backmost connected spot export defense to enactment successful nan bully graces of important suppliers for illustration Nvidia. 

There’s also been inconsistent messaging from the Trump administration. Three months expanding an export ban on precocious AI chips to China in April 2025, nan management reversed course, allowing Nvidia and AMD to waste immoderate chips to China in exchange for 15% of nan revenue. 

“You spot group connected nan Hill moving towards bills for illustration nan Chip Security Act that would put export controls connected China,” Billen said. “In nan meantime, there’s going to proceed to beryllium this propping up of the communicative to termination authorities bills that are actually quite light tough.” 

Bilen added that SB 53 is an illustration of populist successful action – of manufacture and policymakers moving together to get to a type of a measure that everyone tin work together on. It’s “very disfigured and messy,” but “that process of democracy and federalism is nan full instauration of our state and our economical system, and I dream that we will support doing that successfully.” 

“I deliberation SB 53 is 1 of nan champion impervious points that that tin still work,” he said.