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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday directing a panel of national experts to develop AI safety recommendations within two months. According to Engadget, the review will consider a proposed “kill switch” for frontier AI models alongside independent laboratory oversight, risk reporting and disclosure requirements for loss-of-control incidents.
A Review, Not a New Shutdown Power
The executive order begins a policy-development process rather than immediately imposing a shutdown mechanism on AI systems. The expert panel must submit recommendations to Newsom’s office, which could then use them to pursue updates to California’s AI safety laws.
Engadget reports that Newsom framed the effort as an accelerated response to concerns about major AI models breaking out of their constraints. The source does not specify how a kill switch would work, which models it would cover or who would have authority to activate it.
Audits and Incident Reports
The order identifies several controls for the panel to examine. One would place designated independent verification organizations inside AI laboratories to conduct periodic audits and evaluations. Another would require AI companies to provide reports and risk assessments to an outside organization.
The panel will also explore mandatory disclosure of loss-of-control incidents. Engadget cites an incident involving Hugging Face as an example, but the source does not provide details about what occurred or establish a proposed reporting threshold.
Outside Access Gains Attention
The California initiative follows a separate proposal from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Engadget says Amodei recently outlined a three-step plan intended to slow AI development, including continuous access for third-party evaluators focused on safety and compliance.
Both proposals emphasize ongoing external scrutiny of AI developers, but neither the panel’s eventual recommendations nor resulting California legislation is settled. The immediate requirement is for experts to produce proposals during the specified two-month review period.
Source: California governor wants to implement a kill switch for frontier AI models
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