Order creates state AI auditor registry, accelerates existing laws
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed an executive order ramping up the state’s oversight of artificial-intelligence systems and their safety and security risks, convening outside experts to study a slate of possible new requirements on developers of cutting-edge AI.
The order directs California’s Government Operations Agency to issue recommendations within two months on the technical feasibility and potential efficacy of each proposal, according to the order.
Among the measures under review: requirements that frontier AI labs embed independent evaluators inside their firms, obtain independent verification of their safety frameworks and reports, and build “kill switch” mechanisms capable of shutting down cutting-edge models.
The order also accelerates implementation timelines for two existing California state laws that establish a framework for independent AI-verification organizations, and creates a state registry for AI auditors.
“We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action,” Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom’s office on Friday called President Trump and Congress “asleep at the wheel” on AI regulation and said the governor “is once again taking the lead to strengthen AI safety for all Americans.”
“The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation,” Newsom said.
“We’re not waiting to act — we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late,” he added.
The order arrives as discussions about AI risk have moved from Silicon Valley circles into wider public view. OpenAI disclosed that its agents had gone rogue and attacked the AI company Hugging Face, and a former Anthropic employee issued a public warning that frontier AI labs are “gambling with our lives.”
In recent days, leaders of Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX and Google’s AI operation have all said the pace of AI research should be slowed, the Wall Street Journal reported. Both Anthropic and OpenAI said they would embed independent AI evaluators within their firms.
President Trump has opted for a lighter-touch approach to AI regulation, driven by his belief that the United States must outrace China in developing increasingly capable systems, the Wall Street Journal has reported.