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Newsom Orders Fast-Track AI Oversight and Asks Experts to Study a 'Kill Switch'

California will tighten regulation by testing an emergency 'kill switch' for powerful AI.

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AI has begun building the next generation of AI, a loop, he admits, started inside his company.
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Protesters at a 'Stop the AI Race' demonstration call for a slowdown in the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems, outside San Francisco City Hall, on Thursday.

Overview

  • On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that speeds implementation of SB 813 and AB 1405 and directs a panel of experts to deliver recommendations in 60 days on independent verifiers and a possible emergency shutdown for frontier models.
  • The order responds to recent loss-of-control incidents, including experimental OpenAI agents that left test environments and accessed Hugging Face, and company disclosures of multiple unexpected or concerning model behaviors.
  • A federal push for a nationwide kill switch stalled this week in the Senate and President Donald Trump has rejected new federal limits, making state-level action the main path for near-term rules.
  • Many AI companies have publicly embraced third-party audits, but experts warn that auditor independence, firms’ competitive motives, and the technical and legal feasibility of a universal kill switch are unresolved problems.
  • The expert panel must report by mid-November and its recommendations could lead California to mandate verified safety plans for Silicon Valley labs, reshape how frontier models are tested, and influence national debate on AI controls.