Californian Senator introduces two bills on AI’s safety and ethical use

Californian Senator Steve Padilla introduced a ‘package’ of two senate bills, 892 and 893, to ensure the safe and ethical use of AI systems contracting with the state. Essentially, these two bills seek to harness California’s economic influence to promote the responsible development and deployment of AI technology.

Senate Bill 892 requires California’s Department of Technology to establish safety, privacy, and nondiscriminatory standards relating to AI services. Additionally, as of 1 August 2025, the state of California will be prohibited from entering any contract for AI services unless the providers of the services meet the established standards.

The second Senate bill, 893, focuses on creating an AI Research Hub, which would serve as a focal point for AI research and development, deployment, and application of AI technology for the public good. The bill mandates collaboration between various government entities, including the Government Operations Agency (GovOps), the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz), and the Department of Technology, to work together with academic institutions across the state to set up the California AI Research Hub.

Why does it matter?

As POLITICO reported in May 2023, Silicon Valley’s ‘fast-spreading technology’ will face major policy raodblocks, with Caroadblocksawmakers preparing numerous bills to regulate societal threats. This is already in the first days of 2024 and has been proven correct since these two bills were introduced. Despite Biden’s executive order on developing trustworthy AI, there has not been any major federal regulation addressing AI concerns, the Verge reports.