SACRAMENTO, CA – This week, the California legislature will once again consider SB1047, the “Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act,” a sweeping framework that aims to regulate and issue compliance guidelines for AI large language models and related products and services.
Consumers of existing AI models and products benefit greatly from what’s happening right now in this sector, thanks to open source developers that make the ecosystem competitive, free, and accessible for all sorts of people with unique use cases in mind.
The mandates and compliance forced by SB1047 threaten innovation and should be rejected by state legislators.
Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center, said of SB1047:
“California’s proposed AI law would bring virtually all development to a grinding halt. This law would require developers to usher their innovations through government bureaucracies to meet various demands and standards that are neither clear nor realistic.
“Most alarmingly, the proposed bill would assign an unprecedented liability standard to open source developers, reducing the incentives for intelligent and creative coders to dedicate themselves to building the next generation of artificial intelligence technologies,” said Ossowski. “This would be perilous for emerging tech innovations that rely on open source models to exist.
“While we all understand the safety concerns that surround AI tools, the people of California – as well as the United States – cannot surrender to doomer fantasies that will only inhibit innovation and development, as well as push this out to countries and jurisdictions more willing to embrace it.
“California legislators may be eager to address the safety and security of AI tech, but it should not be done in haste lest we threaten the very benefits that many users have already come to enjoy. We hope state lawmakers revise this proposed law and support efforts that will at once support innovation, boost open source development, and assuage the fears of certain stakeholders,” concluded Ossowski.
About the Consumer Choice Center:
The Consumer Choice Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the rights of consumers around the world. Our mission is to promote freedom of choice, healthy competition, and evidence-based policies that benefit consumers. We work to ensure that consumers have access to a variety of quality products and services and can make informed decisions about their lifestyle and consumption.
Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org