California is accelerating its push to police powerful artificial intelligence systems, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing an executive order to fast-track independent safety oversight and develop a framework for an emergency “AI kill switch”.
The directive moves the timeline for oversight of AI auditors forward by a full year. It also begins work on tightening safety and security requirements for advanced AI systems, including ongoing third-party verification and stronger mandatory reporting of incidents.
“Today, I'm signing an executive order to speed up a first in America AI safety policy that we have here in California,” Newsom said. He said the order would accelerate the implementation of the state’s new law and create a framework for independent safety checks and verification organisations.
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Read Now The Identity Project The move puts external scrutiny at the centre of California’s approach. State officials intend to establish recurring evaluations and formal reporting channels to help identify safety failures and security breaches involving powerful AI systems.
Newsom cited what he described as “the hugging face hack” while making the case for more mandatory incident reporting.
“This also begins an effort to tighten our safety and security requirements for powerful AI systems as well as models, laying the foundation for requiring third-party safety verification on an ongoing basis,” he said.
A key part of the initiative is defining how an emergency shutdown mechanism would work. The “kill switch” remains a framework under development, with experts set to examine its meaning, technical requirements and implementation.
Newsom acknowledged that the term could mean different things to different people.
“So we want to flesh out exactly what that means and how to come up with a framework that works,” he said. “So we're going to convene experts as we did with the creation of SB 53 to figure out the right path forward.”
The governor also pressed Washington to adopt nationwide AI safeguards, arguing that state action needed to be accompanied by a comprehensive federal safety framework.
“California will do what it can, but this nation needs to get in the game. Washington, DC needs to do its job,” Newsom said.
He criticised congressional inaction and called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring lawmakers back from their break to pass national legislation, using California’s approach as a baseline.
“That's what leadership requires, setting a comprehensive safety framework as a floor,” Newsom said. “And if Congress again won't act, California will.”
With inputs from ANI