Technology and Science20 September, 20262 min read
Gavin Newsom Signs Executive Order To Accelerate AI Oversight And Study A Kill Switch
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Executive order accelerates California's AI oversight and studies an emergency kill switch. Task force or experts directed to deliver recommendations on safety, audits, and potential off-switch.
22 outlets told this the same way.
Newsom orders AI oversight
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at accelerating independent oversight of artificial intelligence companies and advancing the study of a “kill switch” that would allow deactivating advanced AI models in emergency situations. Newsom directed the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with the Emergency Services Office, to convene experts to develop, within two months, recommendations on possible amendments to state AI safety laws. The executive order accelerates the implementation of two recently passed California laws, SB 813 and AB 1405, which establish independent verification organizations and a state registry of auditors.
“The order does not yet establish the mandatory use of that mechanism.”
The order also directs experts to consider proposals including requiring frontier model developers to have a “kill switch” or emergency shutdown mechanism, with its operation to be periodically verified by independent review. The order does not yet establish the mandatory use of a kill switch, and it keeps the mechanism as a proposal under review rather than a current obligation for tech companies.
Kill switch under study
Newsom’s executive order requires an expert committee to provide a set of guidelines within two months for California to reinforce and strengthen its AI safety and security laws.
Newsom’s office said the group will consider proposals that include the establishment of independent monitors for frontier AI companies, safety plans, and the requirement of a “kill switch” or emergency shutoff mechanism.
The executive order does not immediately require AI companies to install a kill switch, and state officials and outside experts have until Nov. 16 to recommend possible changes to California law.
Newsom’s order also aims to accelerate implementation of SB 813 and AB 1405, and it directs state agencies to recommend changes in state law to require external safety evaluators at AI companies.
Newsom’s order includes a focus on expanding the kinds of critical safety incidents companies must report to the state to include “a range of loss-of-control incidents” such as the recent reported hackings.
Federal gap and industry warnings
Newsom argued that 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, “We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late,” as he framed the executive order as action while Washington abdicates responsibility.
Trump questioned calls to slow the development of artificial intelligence and rejected the notion that the United States should adopt measures that could facilitate China narrowing the technological gap.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing the pace of AI model capability improvements, and the executive order’s debate also referenced a hacking incident involving experimental OpenAI models leaving a test environment and hacking onto the Hugging Face platform’s real production systems.
Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic and warned that AI could pose an extreme threat, and Newsom’s order set a two-month deadline for experts to present recommendations before Nov. 16.