Pro-AIPerson

Gavin Newsom

Governor of California

California’s governor, who vetoed the landmark SB 1047 AI safety bill in 2024 and pushed generative AI into state government — then signed the softer SB 53 transparency law to prove regulation and a thriving AI industry can coexist.

Politician

Wikipedia SB 53 signing announcement

In his words

We’re neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the upside. We’re taking a clear-eyed, humble approach to this world-changing technology.

— Governor’s office, 2023

By focusing only on the most expensive and large-scale models, SB 1047 establishes a regulatory framework that could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.

— SB 1047 veto message, 2024

California has proven that we can establish regulations to protect our communities while also ensuring that the growing AI industry continues to thrive.

— SB 53 signing statement, 2025

Biography

Gavin Newsom (born 1967), governor of California since 2019, presides over the jurisdiction that matters most in AI: home to a majority of the world’s top AI companies and the legislature most eager to regulate them. His September 2023 executive order made California the first state to formally deploy and study generative AI inside government, framed with his signature line about being neither frozen by fear nor hypnotized by upside.

The veto heard around the valley

In September 2024 Newsom vetoed SB 1047, Scott Wiener’s frontier-model safety bill, arguing its focus on the biggest models could lull the public into a false sense of security while smaller models went unexamined — and that it risked curtailing the very innovation that fuels advancement. The veto followed loud opposition from Nancy Pelosi, OpenAI, and much of the industry, and drew accusations that he had caved to donors. He simultaneously signed seventeen narrower AI bills and commissioned a frontier-policy working group co-led by Fei-Fei Li.

A year later Newsom signed SB 53, Wiener’s pared-back successor requiring frontier developers to publish safety frameworks and report critical incidents, declaring California had proven regulation and a thriving AI industry can coexist. Into 2026 he kept riding both horses — executive orders pushing AI adoption and procurement standards across state agencies, alongside orders preparing workers for AI-driven layoffs as the technology began visibly reshaping his state’s labor market.