California Passes SB53 - AI Transparency Act

This week (September 29, 2025) California passed SB53 as a framework to offer moderate regulation of AI efforts. The bill is less onerous than one that failed to pass last year. It offers paths for whistleblowers to step forward without risk of retaliation. The bill only applies to companies with more than $500M in revenue. Proponents understand the potential risks of the technology. Federal opponents warn of the complexity of 50 states creating their own laws (fair and without going into politics we have a lot of recent precedent of states choosing their own paths and the resulting consequences. This one doesn’t stress me out yet.) Local naysayers don’t want any slowdowns in their innovation. While no one wants the heavy oversight that exists in Europe, Silicon Valley companies also don’t have an impeccable track record of doing what is right for consumers. 

Separately, I did not know that 32 of the world’s largest 50 AI companies are based in California.