CaliforniAI: New Executive Order takes on Generative AI

13.12.2023

California Governor, Gavin Newsom, issues Executive Order on Generative AI, which echoes some points in the recent Texas and Connecticut AI laws and goes further, imposing detailed, time limited obligations on California State agencies.

Key points:

General:

  • The State of California endeavors to continue leading the world in the responsible development, adoption, and implementation of new technologies for the benefit of all Californians and the California economy
  • GenAI can enhance human potential and creativity but must be deployed and regulated carefully to mitigate and guard against a new generation of risks.
  • The unprecedented speed of innovation and deployment of GenAI technologies necessitates measured guardrails to protect against potential risks or malicious uses, including but not limited to, bioterrorism, cyberattacks, disinformation, deception, and discrimination or bias.
  • The development of GenAI will necessitate united governance on issues of consumer data, financial services, healthcare, and innumerable other areas critical to our society, and Newsom's administration looks forward to engaging with the Legislature in furtherance of this aim.

Operative:

Ongoing:

Legal counsel for all State agencies, departments, and boards subject to the Governor's authority will consider and periodically evaluate for any potential impact of GenAI on regulatory issues under the respective agency, department, or board's authority and recommend necessary updates, where appropriate, as a result of this evolving technology.

Within 60 days of issuance of this Order:

  • Certain California agencies will present a report to the Governor examining the most significant, potentially beneficial use cases for deployment of GenAI tools by the State; setting forth the potential risks from the use of GenAI.

All agencies shall submit to the California Department of Technology an inventory of all current high-risk uses of GenAI within the agency or department to the California Department of Technology. They need to appoint senior management to conduct this and to update it on a regular basis.

By Fall 2023:

Agencies are directed to work with the University of California, Berkeley, College of Computing, Data Science, and Society and Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to develop and host a joint California-specific summit in 2024, to engage in meaningful discussions and thought partnership about the impacts of GenAI on California and its workforce and how all stakeholders can support growth in a manner that safeguards Californians.

By January 2024:

Certain California agencies will issue (and later regularly update) general guidelines for public sector procurement, uses, and required trainings for use of GenAI, including for high-risk scenarios such as for consequential decisions affecting access to essential goods and services

By March 2024:

  • Agencies will perform a joint risk analysis of potential threats to and vulnerabilities of California's critical energy infrastructure by the use of GenAI, including those which could lead to mass casualty events and environmental emergencies, and make recommendations for further administrative actions and/or collaboration with the Legislature to guard against these potential threats and vulnerabilities. These recommendations will subsequently be updated at a cadence determined by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
  • The California Department of Technology will establish the infrastructure to conduct pilots of GenAI projects, including California Department of Technology approved environments, or "sandboxes," to test such projects.

By July 2024:

  • Certain California agencies will develop guidelines for State agencies and departments to analyze the impact that adopting a GenAI tool may have on vulnerable communities, including criteria to evaluate equitable outcomes in deployment and implementation of high-risk use cases
  • All state agencies under the Governor's authority shall consider pilot projects of GenAI applications, in consultation with the state workforce or organizations that represent state government employees, and experts as appropriate from civil society, academia, and industry.
  • Trainings will be available for state government worker use of state-approved GenAI tools to achieve equitable outcomes, and to identity and mitigate potential output inaccuracies, fabricated text, hallucinations, and biases of GenAI, while enforcing public privacy and applicable state laws and policies.

By January 2025:

  • The State's project approval, procurement, and contract terms, will be updated, incorporating analysis and feedback obtained
  • Provide criteria to evaluate the impact of GenAI to the state government workforce, guidelines on how State agencies and departments can support state government employees to use these tools effectively and respond to these technological advancements.

#dataprivacy #dataprotection #AIgovernance #AIprivacy #privacyFOMO


Article provided by INPLP member: Odia Kagan (Fox Rothschild LLP, United States)

 

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