AI and California SB 1047. The Wild West All Over Again 

On the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can find a remarkable room-sized mural painted by Thomas Hart Benton in the 1920’s. The piece, Benton’s signature work, depicts in ten vivid panels, the transformation of the nation through the power of technology and industry, each panel illustrating the economic and social struggles of a particular region of the country.

Despite hailing from the mid-west himself, the most striking of Benton’s regional panels is that of the “Changing West,” which highlights the then–booming oil industry, the concentration of wealth there, and the clash this created with the more traditional industries and ways of life in the Wild West. 

The Changing West Today 

Spin forward a hundred years to today. The gold and oil booms of the past have been replaced by a “new new thing” called artificial intelligence. Today’s clash is pitting deep-pocketed technology companies and their AI models, against the publishing industry – the traditional owners of the copyrighted content being indiscriminatingly scraped without permission by AI. In the words of the 1954 song and the more recent movie, “Something’s Gotta Give”. 

So, several big publishers are suing the tech companies in well-publicized litigation to either cease and desist, or far more likely, to pay for the privilege of consuming their content. The cases are ongoing. Regardless of the conclusion, it is clear that our current laws are not well equipped to manage the use and misuse of this new technology. What is more interesting, however, is what can lawmakers all over the world do to address this deficiency with new, more adequate regulations. 

In this regard, nothing exemplifies the contrasting cultures between North America and Europe more than the approach to legislation in those continents. The EU is more concerned with the protection of individual rights (their GDPR for example), whereas the US generally favors corporate rights over those of the individual – that is, when it does not reject regulation altogether. It is that Wild West thing all over again. 

Government Responds Locally 

The first major governmental response to the clamor for AI regulation was from the European Union, when the EU Council approved the AI Act in May 2024. It was aimed at ensuring ethical development of AI systems, and predictably guards against the potential impact on safety and fundamental rights of the individual. The US Congress – equally predictably, has so far failed to respond in any way, although the FTC and NIST have provided basic guidelines. Cue for the states to step in and fill the vacuum. 

Although there have been minor laws from two western states to this date, California stepped up with the first major AI legislation in the form of Bill SB 1047. This was noteworthy because many of the tech companies doing battle for the AI lead are based in that state. When Americans said, “When the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold,” they might as well have said California. And even though that arrogant statement is no longer true, it is fair to say that California is the global bellwether for AI development, and many interested parties are fixated on what California will do next.  

California’s SB 1047 

In August 2024, California’s legislature overwhelmingly passed SB1047 that would have enacted the US’ most far-reaching regulations on the booming AI industry. It would have made tech companies legally responsible for harms caused by AI models and mandated that they enable a “kill-switch” if the systems suffered misuse or went rogue. The bill also included compliance audits and whistleblower protections. Unsurprisingly, it was opposed by the tech companies who believed it would seriously erode the development of AI and cede the initiative to companies outside of the state (and by inference, the country). The bill was popular with voters and backed by notable pioneering AI scientists and even Elon Musk, a man not well-known for his altruism.  

The Veto and What Happens Now 

By the time the bill reached Governor Newsom’s desk it had been subject to intense lobbying (and false information) by both sides and had been watered down by the legislative process. In September 2024 Newson vetoed the bill, describing it as well-intentioned but too stringent. He claimed it focused too much on the biggest most powerful AI models and that smaller upstarts could prove equally dangerous. He might just as easily have said that if the goose that laid the golden egg was going to be killed, it was not going to be on his watch. Pushback from the AI accountability lobby was immediate, including CA Senator Scott Weiner. “The industry is left policing itself” he wrote icily.  

So, what happens now? For advocates, the options include revising the bill to address the Governor’s concerns. They may re-energize their appeals to voters or even seek to override the veto, needing an unlikely two thirds majority vote in both houses. Opponents to the bill will try to find new alternatives with lawmakers. Collaboration is necessary to find the right balance between innovation and public safety.  

In Conclusion 

Newsom’s veto has significant implications for California, the US and even the rest of the world. The issue with AI, as with other existential questions like climate change, is that the impact of abuses is global in nature, and thus demands global solutions. For a variety of reasons, not least of which are conflicting local interests, the world is poorly equipped to create international standards for collaboration, let alone international legislation, and as is often the case, we may go to the brink before things get done. A process of building international consensus and cooperation must be found, with incremental progress, public awareness, and advocacy but it is doubtful that current bodies like the UN and the ISO have the teeth to pull it off. 

It is fascinating to consider how Thomas Hart Benton might have added AI to the “Changing West” panel in his American Life mural had he been alive today to witness this big-stakes brawl to win the race. We must wait and see who will prevail between the tech giants and the publishing industry, but we doubt if it will take another hundred years for us to find the answer.