The following statement can be attributed to Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).
SIIA remains concerned about California’s SB 1047 AI bill though we recognize positive changes were made to the version that passed out of Appropriations Committee last week. Our broader concerns remain: SB 1047 will create burdens for innovators without addressing the need for a consistent approach to AI safety. Rather than rushing an approach on the state level that could fragment the AI landscape, oversight should be coordinated at the federal level. This is a concern that has also been raised by several California legislators, who are rightly concerned about the impact this will have on the state’s startup community, scientific development, and the trajectory of further protections against the potential harms posed by AI. As described in our recent piece in the Los Angeles Times, there’s an urgent need to focus efforts on building standards around AI safety and lawmakers should focus on resourcing the NIST AI Safety Institute to ensure a consistent approach to U.S. frontier model development that does not hinder continued innovation.
As California lawmakers consider numerous bills to address important issues around AI this session, we urge them to hit pause on SB 1047 to avoid unintended consequences.
