As discussed in a previous LawFlash, the California legislature recently passed SB 1047. Along with AB 2013, which is focused on transparency and is also awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature, California lawmakers are innovating on artificial intelligence (AI) at Silicon Valley speed.
SB 1047 would impose on developers of large AI models an obligation to implement and comply with certain safety, testing, reporting and enforcement standards, while AB 2013 would require any “developer” who makes any generative “artificial intelligence” technology available to California residents to publicly disclose on its website documentation that provides, among other requirements, a summary of the datasets used in the development and training of the AI technology or service.
In both bills, “artificial intelligence” is defined, with relatively broad scope, as “an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.”
AB 2013, notably, applies not only to the original developers of generative AI technology or service, but any person or entity meeting the definition of “developer” who makes any “substantial modification” to a generative AI technology or service released after January 1, 2022, including new versions, releases, re-training, and fine-tuning that materially changes functionality or performance. Such broad reach could have implications for certain service providers or collaborators who engage in material re-training and/or fine-tuning of an existing generative AI model within the scope of their license.
There are some notable exceptions, however. AB 2013 does not apply to generative AI technology (1) whose sole purpose is to ensure security and integrity; (2) whose sole purpose is the operation of aircraft in the national airspace; or (3) developed for national security, military, or defense purposes that is made available only to a federal entity.
With the summit (or precipice) of the AI frontier in sight, enthusiasts and participants from many rapidly transforming industries await, with bated breath, Governor Newsom’s chosen path.