Newsom AI Order Speeds Up Auditing Process, Calls for ‘Kill Switches’

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newest executive order on AI kicks the state’s development of an AI auditor program into high gear and hints at future requirements for companies to create a “kill switch” for their technology.

Executive Order N-9-26, issued on Friday, gives three directives to the Government Operations Agency (GovOps):

1. Create application requirements for AI independent verification organizations (IVOs), as specified in Senate Bill 813, by May 1, 2027. The original bill’s deadline for this was Jan. 1, 2028.
2. Establish a way for AI auditors to register with GovOps online, as specified by Assembly Bill 1405, by Dec. 1, 2027. The original bill’s deadline for this was Jan. 1, 2029.
3. By Nov. 16, 2026, coordinate with national experts to develop recommendations on a number of specific AI regulation ideas.

Those regulation ideas include requiring that large frontier AI model developers embed IVOs on-site and requiring such companies to implement a “kill switch” to immediately shut off frontier AI models.

The order comes as the nation discusses a recent social media post from a former Anthropic employee who accused leading AI developers of “gambling with our lives,” warning of massive dangers from the technology.

Newsom has issued several executive orders on AI, including the March order calling for guardrails on state AI procurement and the May order seeking to prevent AI-related workforce disruption.

The order doesn’t specify which type of national experts should pitch in on GovOps’ recommendations.

“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 in a statement.