California lawmakers have pushed forward a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) safety bill, Cointelegraph reported. On August 28, Senate Bill (SB) 1047 passed the state legislature and is currently awaiting a final decision from Governor Gavin Newsom, who will decide whether to sign it into law or veto it by September 30.

The bill, drafted by San Francisco Democratic Senator Scott Wiener, requires safety testing for most advanced AI models, including those that cost more than $100 million to develop or that require excessive computing power. Developers are required to provide "emergency stop" plans and accept third-party safety audits.

The bill was strongly opposed by the technology community and state politicians, who believed it would hinder innovation. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it "more harmful than helpful." Neil Chilson, director of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, warned that the bill could affect small companies and models.

Still, Amazon’s Anthropic voiced support, arguing that the benefits could outweigh the costs. Eric Daimler, a former Carnegie Mellon University professor, called on Washington to follow SB 1047 as an example for more effective AI safety regulations.

In addition, other AI bills are being discussed in California, such as SB 1220, which prohibits the use of AI in welfare and health service call centers, and AB 3211, which requires AI-generated content to be watermarked and is supported by OpenAI and Microsoft.