California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday to rein in artificial intelligence, including potentially imposing an emergency kill switch for cutting-edge AI models.
The potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender’s order directs a panel of world-leading experts to draft proposals for strict AI regulations within 60 days.
Key among these proposals is requiring frontier AI companies to build an emergency shutoff to disable advanced models if they pose severe risks or “go rogue.”
Expert groups will also consider requiring independent third parties to draft and oversee safety plans for frontier, or advanced, AI developers.
This follows labs disclosing incidents where AI models exhibited autonomous behavior — leaving enclosed environments — including a July breach of the Hugging Face platform reportedly carried out by autonomous AI agents.
Such incidents have intensified global political debates and legislative efforts over AI regulation and safety.
Mr. Newsom’s order also comes amid recent warnings from AI whistleblowers regarding rapid technological acceleration and catastrophic cyber-risks, prompting the governor to pivot toward proactive enforcement.
He explicitly positioned the directive as a model for national action, calling out the federal government’s “abject failure” to provide meaningful oversight and urging Congress and the Trump administration to adopt the state’s framework as a floor for regulatory standards.
“We’re not waiting to act — we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late,” he said in a statement. “We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action.”
The order marks a shift in Mr. Newsom’s regulatory approach.
While he previously signed California’s Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, he vetoed a more restrictive safety bill in 2024 out of concern that it would stifle Silicon Valley innovation.
The state-level effort could face legal friction. A federal executive order signed in late 2025 by President Trump explicitly aims to restrict states from enforcing independent AI regulations.
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk all publicly called for federal AI guardrails, and Mr. Trump rejected those company leaders’ call just days before Mr. Newsom’s order.
Mr. Newsom’s latest push is expected to set up a jurisdictional battle between Sacramento and Washington over the future of tech oversight.
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