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California lawmakers return to work on Wednesday for the beginning of an election-year legislative session dominated by choices on synthetic intelligence and the state’s struggling finances.
The finances is a giant difficulty yearly in California, which is the nation’s most populous state and has an economic system bigger than that of all however 4 international locations. However this 12 months, lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom should determine cowl an estimated $68 billion deficit—a shortfall that’s bigger than all the working budgets of many states.
And with California firms on the forefront of the unreal intelligence increase, a lot of state lawmakers are eyeing new guidelines to manipulate the usage of the expertise earlier than it will probably dominate every day life—very similar to social media has.
The California Legislature is scheduled to convene Wednesday afternoon, giving lawmakers every week to settle in earlier than Newsom sends over his first finances plan. Reducing the finances is rarely simple, however it’s particularly tough in an election 12 months when many legislators should then ask voters in November to reelect them.
Plus, lawmakers can be following a pair of recent leaders as they navigate their first finances negotiations, an arduous course of that occurs largely behind closed doorways and requires gaining consensus among the many Democrats who management a majority of seats within the Legislature. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas took over final summer time, and incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire is scheduled to take over subsequent month.
They will even information debates on the usage of generative synthetic intelligence instruments and makes an attempt to rein within the fast-growing {industry}.
A number of lawmakers are making ready a number of payments to control the usage of generative synthetic intelligence instruments—payments aimed on the potential impacts on privateness, discrimination, job protections, and misinformation during an election year.
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan has mentioned she is going to introduce a invoice to ban the usage of AI techniques that discriminate towards individuals, which might have required firms to judge the algorithms they develop and disclose any potential discriminatory dangers. She launched an identical invoice final 12 months however couldn’t advance it.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra needs to guard actors and artists by limiting studios’ capacity to copy performers’ work utilizing AI, a sticking point in contract negotiations final 12 months between actors and studios. The invoice would permit performers to flee imprecise language in contracts that permit firms to make use of AI to create a digital model of themselves.
State Sen. Scott Wiener mentioned he’ll attempt to set up a sweeping industry-wide security framework. The San Francisco Democrat goals to deal with tackling among the largest dangers in public security and safety, reminiscent of AI-generated bioweapons, cyberattacks, and misinformation campaigns. The invoice, nonetheless mild in particulars, can be “among the many first makes an attempt at broad regulation of AI,” Wiener mentioned.
Past the finances and synthetic intelligence, lawmakers are additionally anticipated to combat over guidelines governing their very own elections.
Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong is working to exchange former U.S. Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Congress. However he’s additionally on the poll for reelection to his Fresno Meeting seat, making a authorized kerfuffle that has angered Democrats. Fong determined to run for Congress after he had already filed for the Meeting seat.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber at first refused to place Fong on the poll for the Congressional seat, citing a state legislation that doesn’t permit individuals to seem on the poll twice. However Fong sued and a state decide dominated in his favor. Weber has mentioned she is going to enchantment the ruling. Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo—who just isn’t working for reelection as a result of she is searching for a seat on the Los Angeles Metropolis Council—has vowed to introduce laws she says “will clear up this mess.”
“Certainly not ought to candidates be capable of run for 2 places of work on the similar time,” she mentioned.
The legislative session runs via the top of August, however lawmakers solely have till the top of January to determine which of the payments launched final 12 months, if any, they’ll try and go this 12 months.
Among the many leftover payments is a proposal by Democratic Senators Catherine Blakespear and Nancy Skinner to require gun house owners to carry liability insurance to cowl the negligent or unintended use of their firearms. The invoice, launched in 2022, confronted fierce opposition from firearms teams final 12 months who mentioned such necessities violate gun house owners’ constitutional rights.
Different payments embody a proposal to require neighborhood faculties and California State College campuses to determine a psychological well being hotline, a measure to subsidize housing for seniors and adults with disabilities, and a plan to ban homeless encampments inside 1,000 toes (305 meters) of a faculty, park, or library, amongst others.
By Trân Nguyễn and Adam Beam, Related Press
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