On Tuesday, Newsom announced he had created the California Innovation Council to “accelerate responsible AI” in state government. The 30-member council includes executives and leaders from the Mozilla Foundation, the UC system, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Brookings Institute, Stanford University, the Atlantic Council, and former Sen. Laphonza Butler.
Newsom has previously touted California for hosting 33 of the world’s 50 biggest AI companies, like Nvidia, Anthropic and OpenAI, which recently appointed Butler as senior adviser. In a statement, he took a shot at President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning states from enacting their own AI regulations while executives with ties to the White House, like AI czar David Sacks, have benefited from the administration’s hands-off approach to AI.
“We’re not going to sit on the sidelines and let others define the future for us. But we’re going to do it responsibly — making sure we capture the benefits, mitigate the harms, and continue to lead with the values that define this state,” Newsom said.
Newsom, a longtime Big Tech booster, has embraced AI as a solution to bureaucratic gridlock even as doubts about the technology’s accuracy and long-term economic viability of the AI sector have lingered and Silicon Valley has embraced the Trump administration. In September, he signed a watered-down version of a previous AI-regulating bill from Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that requires AI companies to self-report safety incidents to the state.
The council is split into four subgroups: one overseeing children’s Internet safety; one to counter technology fraud; one focusing on technology, economic Development, and workforce; and one focused on modernizing delivery of government services.
The Mozilla Foundation hosted the council’s first meeting last month at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
In addition, Newsom announced that the California Department of Technology had launched Poppy.AI, an AI-powered “digital assistant” to provide extra data security to state agencies. In 2023, Newsom issued an executive order ordering agencies to adopt generative AI to streamline operations, like speeding up call times for taxpayers seeking help during filing season.
State Chief Information Officer Liana Bailey-Crimmins, who also directs the CDT, said Poppy would make government work more “efficiently.”
“Poppy can accelerate GenAI adoption across California and enable our teams to focus on what matters most — delivering real results for the people we serve,” she said.
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