California lawmakers call for 'comprehensive' slate of AI safeguards

California lawmakers questioned artificial intelligence company executives and outside experts at a committee hearing and said that more legislation would come for the industry in the next legislative session, according to a report published by abridged.org. The hearing placed representatives of three AI developers — Anthropic, Google and OpenAI — before the committee alongside other expert witnesses. The article's headline described the lawmakers as calling for a 'comprehensive' slate of AI safeguards, and the report framed the session as a step toward further regulation of AI companies in the state.

The AI company representatives who appeared for questioning were David Orr, head of safeguards at Anthropic; Alice Friend, director of global AI public policy at Google; and Morgan Dwyer, head of policy development and operations at OpenAI. The report identified each of the three by name and by the safeguards or policy role they hold at their respective companies. It did not describe the questions the lawmakers put to them, or the answers the representatives gave.

The report did not specify which legislative proposals the lawmakers intend to introduce, nor when the next legislative session begins. It listed no bill numbers, deadlines or statutory requirements, and did not name the individual lawmakers involved or the committee that held the hearing. The stated outcome was that additional legislation for the AI industry would follow in the next session, after the committee questioned the executives and the experts.