A Californian bill that could impose restrictions on artificial intelligence has technology companies, investors, and activists trying to explain what the first legislation of this kind could mean for their industry in the state.
The bill continues its course in the state capital, Sacramento, according to what we have learned thanks to a report from The New York Times. And it is expected to reach the appropriations committee of the California state assembly on Thursday before being voted on in the plenary.
If the governor of California turns it into law, the project will require companies to verify the safety of powerful artificial intelligence technologies before making them available to the public.
It would also allow the Attorney General of California to sue companies if their technologies cause serious harm, such as massive material damage or human victims.
A bill that addresses the concerns of half the world regarding the power of AI
The debate over the Artificial Intelligence bill, known as SB 1047, reflects the arguments that have driven intense interest in artificial intelligence. Opponents believe it will stifle the progress of technologies that promise to increase worker productivity, improve healthcare, and fight climate change.
Supporters believe that the bill will help prevent catastrophes and put a stop to the work of companies that are too focused on profits.
And many of the leading artificial intelligence companies, such as Google, Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI, would be required to comply with the proposed law, which could set a precedent for other states and national governments.
The SB 1047 bill comes at a precarious time for the San Francisco Bay Area, where a large part of the artificial intelligence startup community is based, as well as many of the major companies in the sector.
Its harshest detractors argue that the bill could push the development of artificial intelligence to other states, just as the region is recovering from a pandemic-induced depression.
Some prominent researchers in artificial intelligence have supported the bill, including Geoff Hinton, former Google researcher, and Yoshua Bengio, professor at the University of Montreal. Both have spent the last 18 months warning about the dangers of this technology.
Other pioneers of artificial intelligence have spoken out against the bill, such as Yann LeCun, Chief Scientist at Meta, and former Google executives and Stanford professors Andrew Ng and Fei-Fei Li.
AI can be the salvation of humanity or the final nail in the coffin. We still have time to legislate to make it the former and not the latter.
