OpenAI and California AI safety bills

OpenAI has endorsed four California AI safety bills (SB 813, AB 1405, SB 1119, and AB 1864) awaiting Governor Newsom's signature, including some the company had previously opposed. Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane published a statement calling for mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation and committing to work with Congress on it. The endorsed measures include a bill that would authorize independent verification organizations (IVOs) to assess AI risks and another that would create the first legislative requirement for screening synthetic nucleic acids. Lehane's statement says the company would slow or stop capability development if it cannot meet certain safety bars, and it references preparing for recursive self-improvement. Critics note that OpenAI and Google continue to oppose a Massachusetts third-party auditing bill, and observers cite Lehane's past record as reason for caution. Williams and Oks, progressive activists formerly known as the Gravel Teens, joined OpenAI's Strategic Futures team under Dean Ball, a former Trump AI policy adviser, to work on preparing the world for transformative AI.