The Californer - California: Governor Newsom issues executive order to accelerate independent oversight and advance the creation of an AI kill switch

Trending...

MyMediaGuy Search Launches to Help Local Businesses Get Found on Google Maps, Search and AI - 178
How Are Ai Founders in Silicon Valley Building Startups in Their Sleep? - 170
Community Colleges of Ventura County to Host State of the District Event - 163

News

Sep 18, 2026

Governor Newsom issues executive order to accelerate independent oversight and advance the creation of an AI kill switch

Calls for a national adoption of California's AI framework

What you need to know: Governor Newsom today issued an executive order directing actions to address the dangers of recent AI incidents. The order accelerates California's new law establishing first-in-the-nation independent oversight of AI companies and safety checks and advances the creation of an "AI kill switch."

SACRAMENTO – With Donald Trump and Congress asleep at the wheel, Governor Gavin Newsom is once again taking the lead to strengthen AI safety for all Americans. Today, the Governor issued an executive order to dramatically accelerate the implementation of new third-party oversight of safety and security risks in AI systems, as well as independent audits.

The executive order convenes a group of world-leading experts to provide, within two months, a guide for California to reinforce and strengthen its AI safety and security laws. Proposals under consideration include requiring independent third parties to write safety plans for frontier AI companies, as well as requiring companies to develop an emergency shutoff, or "kill switch," for frontier models.

California leads the nation in oversight of emerging frontier technologies, with laws addressing nearly every major area of AI policy: frontier-model safety, independent oversight, children and companion chatbots, privacy, deepfakes, fraud, cybersecurity, workers and government deployment.

The federal government's abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation.

We're not waiting to act – we're going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it's too late. We're going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action.

While Washington abdicates its responsibility to protect Americans, California is building on the strongest AI regulatory framework in the nation. California has already built a national model, and our policy should be the national baseline.

Governor Gavin Newsom

The executive order comes after recent alarming incidents, including the Hugging Face attack, prompting many Americans, including leaders in the AI industry, to call on the industry to pace the development of AI systems and models and push for more stringent government regulations to address security and safety risks. In response, the federal government has done nothing. No federal law requires AI companies to report dangerous incidents when they happen, and President Trump has rejected calls for new regulations that would increase security and protect the health, safety, and well-being of the American people.

Read the executive order here.

Decisive action to strengthen AI oversight

California provides a model for national standards around AI safety. Last week, Governor Newsom signed legislation creating first-in-the-nation safeguards and accountability measures to strengthen California's nation-leading framework. The Governor signed into law Senate Bill 813 (McNerney), establishing a framework for independent verification organizations that can assess AI systems and models for safety and risk. Governor Newsom also signed AB 1405 (Bauer-Kahan), creating a state registry for AI auditors that assess AI systems and models for compliance with state law and establishing standards for their independence, transparency, and integrity.

Today's executive order takes these actions even further. Through the order, the Governor is directing the Government Operations Agency: to accelerate the implementation timelines for SB 813 and AB 1405, and, in consultation with the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, to convene national experts to develop recommendations for potential changes to further strengthen state law to:

Require frontier AI companies to embed a designated independent verification organization onsite in their labs to conduct regular audits and evaluations.
Require that the AI safety frameworks, transparency reports, and risk assessments that frontier AI companies are required to file under state law are verified pursuant to standards deemed adequate by an independent verification organization.
Advance the creation of a "kill switch" for frontier models, with the efficacy of the switch verified on an ongoing basis by an independent verification organization.
Update definitions of critical safety incidents to include loss-of-control incidents such as the Hugging Face attack.

An AI safety model for the nation

More on The Californer

Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California is already far ahead of every other state in regulating AI, creating a guidebook for the nation. The Governor is calling on Congress and President Trump to review and adopt the state's framework, or use its nation-leading regulation as a floor, not a ceiling, for the benefit and safety of all Americans.

California's nation-leading framework

Beginning with his first-in-nation 2023 executive order on generative AI, Governor Newsom has pursued executive action, legislation passed in partnership with the Legislature, regulation, procurement, and public-private partnerships to address nearly every major area of AI policy:

✅ Frontier AI safety: In 2025, Governor Newsom signed SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, the nation's first AI safety law. It requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose safety frameworks, report specified critical safety incidents to the state, and protect whistleblowers who report serious risks.

✅ Independent AI oversight: In 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 813, making California the first state in the nation to establish a framework for certifying independent verification organizations with sufficient expertise and demonstrated independence from AI companies to objectively assess AI systems and models for safety and risk. He also signed AB 1405, establishing a state registry for AI auditors and standards for their independence, transparency and integrity.

✅ Child safety standards for AI companions: This year, Governor Newsom signed the bipartisan Adam's Law, requiring safeguards around companion chatbots used by children, including suicide and self-harm crisis protocols, parental controls and notifications when safety settings are disabled. It is the first law in the country requiring independent child-safety audits and comprehensive risk assessments prior to release. California also enacted laws to ban toys containing AI companion chatbots for five years; prohibit use of student personal information to train AI models; and expand protections against AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

✅ Social media and children: Governor Newsom signed the strongest-in-nation legislation prohibiting social-media companies from providing users under 16 with addictive features including autoplay and algorithmic feeds based on user history and profiles. California has enacted nation-leading requirements for responsible AI and social media use for children, including warning labels for young users, required age verification signals, guidance to protect kids from after-school cyberbullying, and prohibiting online platforms from knowingly providing an addictive feed to a minor without parental consent.

✅ Deep fakes and synthetic content: In nation-leading action, California banned and cracked down on sexually explicit deepfakes, required AI watermarking, addressed deceptive AI-generated election content and required transparency around AI training data.

✅ Protecting privacy and civil liberties: Governor Newsom signed the Delete Act, a first-in-the-nation privacy law allowing Californians to direct registered data brokers to delete their personal information. California subsequently launched DROP, which enables people to submit a single deletion request to registered data brokers. In March 2026, Governor Newsom also issued an executive order strengthening privacy and civil-liberties protections for state AI procurement. CalPrivacy has separately adopted protections involving automated decision-making technology.

More on The Californer

Filed Under: Government, State

0 Comments

Latest on The Californer