Golden State Today

California Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Barrera issued a statement today following Governor Gavin Newsom's veto of SB 1047, authored by Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco.

"We are grateful to Governor Newsom for the veto of SB 1047. Regulatory efforts to promote AI safety are critical, but SB 1047 missed the mark in key ways. As a consequence, the bill would have stifled AI innovation, putting California’s place as the global hub of innovation at tremendous risk," Barrera stated.

Barrera emphasized that while regulatory work on AI is still in its early stages, more efforts will be underway next year to establish new standards. "CalChamber understands that work to properly regulate and harness the power of AI technology is in its infancy and next year more work will be underway to create new standards," she said.

She urged policymakers to focus on creating laws with clear definitions informed by experts in the field. "As policy makers embark on these efforts in 2025, we urge them to remain centered on key principles that include creating laws and regulations that operate with clear and consistent definitions, and are informed by people with deep expertise in this emerging field," Barrera added.

Barrera also highlighted the importance of aligning new policies with national standards and ensuring technological feasibility through input from computer scientists. She called for robust enforcement against already-illegal uses of AI: "New policies should conform to national standards and be informed by computer scientists to ensure technological feasibility. In addition, there needs to be robust enforcement and monitoring of already-illegal uses of AI since many of the worst cases are already prohibited by law."

"CalChamber stands ready to partner with the Legislature and Governor in future efforts to ensure the safety and transparency of frontier AI models," Barrera concluded.