Two measures related to artificial intelligence governance were passed Thursday in the California state Senate on Thursday with unanimous support, sending Senate bills 892 and 893 to the Assembly.
California state Senate bills 892 and 893, which would establish an artificial intelligence (AI) risk management standard and a research hub, passed in the California Senate on Thursday with unanimous support.
Senate Bill 892 requires the California Department of Technology (CDT) to establish and implement regulations for an AI risk management standard. This legislation would prohibit state agencies from contracting for automated decision systems (ADS) without including a clause in the contract that provides a risk assessment for the system. This prohibition would begin six months after the regulations are adopted.
Senate Bill 893 requires a collaborative effort — among the Government Operations Agency, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and CDT — for the creation of the California Artificial Intelligence Research Hub. This research hub would act as the primary entity enabling collaboration among government entities, academic institutions and private-sector organizations for AI research and development.
Barring the federal executive order on artificial intelligence and regulatory examples from outside the U.S. such as the European Union AI Act, regulation in the U.S. has happened largely at the state and local level. For California, this includes guidelines for state procurement of generative AI and exploring how policy can protect election integrity.
“Protecting Californians is a bipartisan issue,” said Sen. Steve Padilla, author of the two bills, in an announcement. “We cannot wait on Congress to lead while we wait vulnerable to the whims of tech billionaires.”
Both the bills passed in the state Senate by a vote of 37-0 and were ordered to the Assembly for review.
This article first appeared in Government Technology, sister publication to Industry Insider — California.
