California Governor Newsom signs executive order demanding "kill switch" for AI models
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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at accelerating independent oversight of AI companies and advancing a "kill switch" requirement for AI models. The order follows recent incidents such as the Hugging Face attack. An expert panel has two months to deliver recommendations, including a requirement for AI companies to embed independent auditors directly inside their labs. The article says the proposal originally came from the AI labs themselves as part of a broader call to slow research and development. Newsom sharply criticized his rival Donald Trump, who accused the labs of fearmongering, and pointed out that no federal law requires AI companies to report dangerous incidents. He cited California laws already passed on AI safety, child protection, deepfakes, data privacy, and cybersecurity, and called on Congress to adopt that framework as a national baseline. Separately, a group of 42 mathematicians warned about risks from advanced AI systems that could evolve rapidly in the near future.
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