Legislation AI News & Updates
California Senator Introduces New AI Safety Bill with Whistleblower Protections
California State Senator Scott Wiener has introduced SB 53, a new AI bill that would protect employees at leading AI labs who speak out about potential critical risks to society. The bill also proposes creating CalCompute, a public cloud computing cluster to support AI research, following Governor Newsom's veto of Wiener's more controversial SB 1047 bill last year.
Skynet Chance (-0.1%): The bill's whistleblower protections could increase transparency and safety oversight at frontier AI companies, potentially reducing the chance of dangerous AI systems being developed in secret. Creating mechanisms for employees to report risks without retaliation establishes an important safety valve for dangerous AI development.
Skynet Date (+2 days): The bill's regulatory framework would likely slow the pace of high-risk AI system deployment by requiring greater internal accountability and preventing companies from silencing safety concerns. However, the limited scope of the legislation and uncertain political climate mean the deceleration effect is modest.
AGI Progress (+0.03%): The proposed CalCompute cluster would increase compute resources available to researchers and startups, potentially accelerating certain aspects of AI research. However, the impact is modest because the bill focuses more on safety and oversight than on directly advancing capabilities.
AGI Date (-1 days): While CalCompute would expand compute access that could slightly accelerate some AI research paths, the increased regulatory oversight and whistleblower protections may create modest delays in frontier model development. The net effect is a very slight acceleration toward AGI.