Newsom pushes AI “kill switch” and independent lab oversight in California executive order

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at accelerating independent oversight of AI companies and advancing the creation of a “kill switch” for AI models. The order asks an expert panel to deliver recommendations within two months. Those recommendations include a potential requirement for AI companies to place independent auditors directly inside their labs.

The order responds to recent incidents cited in the article, including a Hugging Face attack, and reflects growing concern over advanced AI systems behaving in dangerous or unexpected ways. Newsom also pointed to a regulatory gap: no federal law requires AI companies to report dangerous incidents. For readers tracking AI policy, the key issue is whether state-level action becomes a template for broader national rules.

Newsom said California has already passed laws covering AI safety, child protection, deepfakes, data privacy, and cybersecurity. He is calling on Congress to adopt that framework as a national baseline. The practical takeaway: California is positioning its AI rules as more than state policy—it is presenting them as a possible federal model.

The article notes that the embedded-auditor proposal has also come from AI labs themselves as part of a broader call to slow research and development. Newsom criticized Donald Trump, who accused the labs of fearmongering, according to the report. The divide highlights the central policy tension: how to add safeguards without relying solely on companies to police themselves.