Newsom’s moment of truth on California AI bill
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California lawmakers broke new ground this week when they gave final approval to legislation requiring new safety checks on the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act would require developers of AI models that cost more than $100 million to train to ensure those models cannot cause critical harm, such as a chemical, biological or cyber attack.
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Passing the bill was the easy part. Now comes the trickier question: How will Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) act?
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Newsom is under pressure from the largest AI developers in the world — Google, Meta, OpenAI and others — as well as from fellow Democrats who represent Silicon Valley in Congress, to veto the legislation, which they say will throttle innovation. Newsom has sounded skeptical of reining in AI technology that has the potential to deliver big bucks to his state, but he’s been tight-lipped on this bill.
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Other governors in similar quandaries have taken divergent steps. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) killed a big AI bill in his state by threatening a veto. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed an AI regulation bill, but insisted on future changes. But California is first among equals, and Newsom’s action on this particular bill is likely to significantly influence what happens in other states next year.
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Welcome to Tech Friday, a joint project of The Hill and Pluribus News covering tech policy across government.
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AI giants sign research, testing agreements
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OpenAI and Anthropic have signed agreements with the federal government allowing their AI models to be used for research, testing and evaluation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology said Tuesday. The agreements will allow the U.S. AI Safety Institute to access the companies’ major models before release. Read more at The Hill.
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Lawmakers introduce health cybersecurity bill
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A bipartisan group of House lawmakers have introduced legislation to protect health care data in the face of cyberattacks. The bill, from Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), would direct government agencies to improve cybersecurity in the health care sector. Read more at TechTarget.
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Musk hires political advisor
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X and Tesla leader Elon Musk has hired Chris Young, a former senior political officer at PhRMA and a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as a political advisor. Young is a former field director for the Republican National Committee. Read more at The New York Times.
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The search-and-review firm Yelp has sued Google, accusing the search giant of monopolistic practices and violating antitrust law. Yelp argued Google diverts traffic toward what it called Google’s “inferior” local search product. Read more at The Hill.
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Nvidia beats earnings expectations
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Nvidia reported $30 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 15% from the previous quarter, topping Wall Street expectations by more than $1 billion. Nvidia’s market capitalization crossed $3 trillion in June. Read more at The Hill.
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OpenAI valuation could top $100 billion
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Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia are in talks to join a new fundraising round for OpenAI that would value the firm at more than $100 billion. OpenAI said ChatGPT now has more than 200 million weekly active users, double the number from last year. Read more at Bloomberg and Axios.
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Magnificent Seven performance this week
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AAPL +0.7%, NVDA -8.3%, MSFT -0.4%, GOOG -2.8%, TSLA -4.3%, META -1.9%, AMZN -1.2%. NASDAQ-100 Tech Sector Index: +0.3%.
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California wrapping work on tech bills
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California lawmakers racing to finish legislative business for the year are set to vote on a handful of key tech bills before adjournment. Among the measures are bills to protect consumers from algorithmic discrimination in employment, housing and education; impose fines on social media companies that cause harm to children; and block algorithmically curated social media feeds. Read more at Pluribus News.
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Aug. 31: California’s legislature must wrap up work by midnight.
Sept. 3: Intel launches its Next Generation Core Ultra in Berlin.
Sept. 4: Hewlett Packard reports second quarter earnings.
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Check out these mind-blowing photos of the Northern Lights dancing over an erupting volcano on Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. One tourist compared the view to a trek through Lord of the Rings.
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Elon Musk calls voting by mail an “insane” idea — but he’s got no problem using an absentee ballot. Musk voted by mail in 2016 and 2018, according to California voting records. Read more at NBC News.
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You’re all caught up! See you next week.
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