OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is endorsing California’s AB 3211 bill, which seeks to require tech companies to clearly label AI-generated content. This content can vary from innocent memes to deepfakes designed to spread misinformation about political candidates. However, AB 3211 has received less attention compared to another California AI bill, SB 1047, which requires AI developers to conduct safety testing on certain models they create.
The bill has encountered resistance from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which is supported by Microsoft. This legislative season, California state lawmakers proposed 65 bills related to AI, as recorded in the state’s legislative database. These proposals include measures to ensure that all algorithmic decisions are free from bias and to protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. However, many of these bills have already been dismissed.
San Francisco-based OpenAI emphasizes the importance of transparency and provenance, such as watermarking, for AI-generated content, particularly during an election year. This stance was communicated in a letter to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, the author of the bill.
With elections taking place in countries representing a third of the global population this year, experts are increasingly concerned about the impact of AI-generated content, which has already played a significant role in some elections, like those in Indonesia.
OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Kwon, expressed in a letter that new technology and standards could help people recognize the origin of online content, thereby reducing confusion between human-created and photorealistic AI-generated material. The bill, AB 3211, has already been approved by the California State Assembly with a unanimous 62-0 vote.
Earlier this month, the bill successfully passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, moving it closer to a full Senate vote. If it is approved before the legislative session concludes on August 31, the bill will proceed to Governor Gavin Newsom, who will have until September 30 to decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.
