California Governor Newsom proposes AI 'kill switch' bill with mandatory shutdown for large models

Newsom Wants AI ‘Kill Switch’ to Rein in Tech Industry

California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a draft AI safety bill on Sept 18 that would require developers to build a 'kill switch' into AI models, enabling forced shutdown when safety risks emerge. The proposal also calls for extra oversight on models with training costs above $100 million. The post doesn't spell out technical standards, who decides when to pull the switch, or how recovery works. The real challenge is making a kill switch work in distributed systems.

Why it matters: Newsom's AI kill-switch proposal with a $100M training-cost threshold is the most concrete AI safety legislation move this year. Score stays below 85 because the post doesn't disclose technical standards, who decides when to pull the switch, or recovery procedures — those are ...