California governor orders review of AI ‘kill switch’ mandates for frontier models

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued an executive order directing state officials to convene experts who must deliver recommendations within two months on strengthening AI safety measures in state law.

The order asks the expert group to consider requiring AI companies to embed independent verification teams onsite for regular audits, subject transparency reports and risk assessments to independent auditor standards, and create a “kill switch” mechanism that is routinely verified as effective.

It also mandates that companies report loss-of-control incidents—such as the OpenAI attack on Hugging Face—as critical safety incidents.

Newsom’s directive accelerates implementation of two laws he recently signed: one that creates a framework for independent verifiers to assess AI safety and another that establishes a state registry of AI auditors.

The governor framed the effort as a model for federal action, calling on Congress and the Trump administration to review and adopt California’s framework or use it as a floor for national regulation.

Newsom cited the federal government’s lack of meaningful AI oversight, arguing that the stakes demand urgent action and that California will proceed ‘thoughtfully but with urgent velocity.’

The order follows recent discussions in Congress about AI regulation amid warnings from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon about existential risks, though prospects for federal legislation remain low before the midterm elections.