Newsom Signs SB 53 Frontier AI Transparency Law

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, creating one of the nation's first and strongest state-level AI safety laws that requires major AI developers to disclose safety protocols and report critical safety incidents. The law targets so-called 'frontier' models using compute-based thresholds, defines 'catastrophic risk' as at least $1 billion in damages or 50+ injuries or deaths, and requires firms to report incidents to the state's Office of Emergency Services within roughly 15 days. It also strengthens whistleblower protections and establishes a public cloud research vehicle, CalCompute, to expand compute access for smaller developers and researchers. Reactions were mixed: Anthropic publicly supported the bill while OpenAI, Meta and several industry groups lobbied against it, warning that state-by-state rules could create a burdensome regulatory patchwork. Supporters including Gov. Newsom and Sen. Scott Wiener say the law balances innovation and safety and could serve as a model for other states or spur federal standards, while critics caution about compliance costs, conflicts with future federal rules and the limits of compute-based thresholds as a proxy for risk.