SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The other day, I searched for some of my articles regarding the housing issue and, much to my surprise, read an artificial intelligence summary of my position that misstated it entirely. It claimed I am associated with NIMBYs, and dozens of similar mischaracterizations will surely make their way to his desk next year.

In effect, Governor Newsom and the California Legislature are now making AI policy for the entire nation instead of Congress, which is extremely troubling for the future of the industry.

This year, Newsom waited until the deadline but issued an unusually lengthy and detailed veto statement of AB 1064 that touched on the key points:

While I strongly support the author’s goal of establishing necessary safeguards for the safe use of AI by minors, AB 1064 imposes such broad restrictions on the use of conversational AI tools that it may unintentionally lead to a total ban on the use of these products by minors. AI is already shaping the world, and it is imperative that adolescents learn how to safely interact with AI systems. We cannot prepare our youth for a future where AI is ubiquitous by preventing their use of these tools altogether.

Supporters expressed dismay that Newsom wasn’t protecting the children, but good intentions do not necessarily lead to good legislation.

The tech industry ended up supporting Newsom’s signing of Senate Bill 243, which imposes a series of mostly reasonable safeguards on chatbot developers. Unlike others, it does so without obliterating the federal Communications Decency Act provisions that protect online platforms from facing the legal liability of publishers.

Newsom mentioned SB 243 in his AB 1064 message by noting that it “requires operators to disclose to minors that they are interacting with AI and prevent chatbots from producing sexually explicit material.”

As with all regulation, it’s best to start slowly in a way that negates obvious harm rather than impose some massive revamping of an industry. California should have learned that overly broad efforts always have negative, unintended consequences. But I don’t expect that it has learned any such lesson.

So, for now, California and the nation dodged a bullet. But, as Thierer noted, it might be a good time for Congress to disarm these meddlesome state legislatures.

And, as usual, Americans need to verify all the information they read, with parents taking a lead role regarding their kids. It’s a fool’s errand to expect the government to do it for us.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at [email protected].

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