California's Sb-1047: Understanding the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Systems Act

• Publication year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 7 No. 4

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Danny Tobey, Ashley Carr, Karley Buckley, and Kyle Kloeppel ^*

In this article, the authors describe the current legal landscape related to AI and how a bill introduced in the California legislature may impact organizations that develop AI systems.

California State Senator Scott Wiener has introduced Senate Bill 1047 (SB-1047)—known as the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Systems Act—in the California state legislature. Aiming to regulate the development and use of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models, the Act mandates developers to make certain safety determinations before training AI models, comply with various safety requirements, and report AI safety incidents. It further establishes the Frontier Model Division within the Department of Technology for oversight of these AI models and introduces civil penalties for violations of the Act.

This article describes the current legal landscape related to AI and how SB-1047 may impact organizations that develop AI systems.

The AI Regulation Landscape

SB-1047 is one of the many AI-related bills currently active in state legislatures across the United States, as state lawmakers remain focused on setting the initial rules for AI systems. Much of the regulative activity stems from the potential harms that may be caused by the proliferation of highly advanced AI systems, such as generative AI. Most of the 190 AI-related bills released in 2023 were related to deepfakes, generative AI systems, and the use of AI in the employment context.

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Further, in 2023, both President Joe Biden and California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed executive orders related to AI. These two executive orders expanded the glut of legal directives surrounding the use and deployment of AI.

• On September 6, 2023, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-12-13. This Executive Order emphasized California's role in the development of generative AI and announced key directives aimed at understanding the risks posed by the emerging technology, ensuring equitable outcomes when it is used, and preparing the state government workforce for its use.
• Following Governor Newsom's Executive Order, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (White House Executive Order) on October 30, 2023. This executive order was a sweeping mandate that aimed to advance a coordinated federal government-wide approach to the safe and responsible development

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