• Elon Musk supports California's SB 1047 bill, aiming to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), despite potential impact on his own AI company, xAI.
• Musk believes AI, like any potentially risky technology, should be regulated for public safety.
• OpenAI opposes the bill, arguing it could slow innovation and drive engineers and entrepreneurs out of California.
• The debate continues over state versus federal regulation, with the bill's impact on AI development and regulation yet to be seen.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has recently made headlines by publicly supporting a new California bill, SB 1047, which seeks to establish regulatory guardrails around artificial intelligence (AI). This move has sparked a wave of surprise across the tech industry, given that Musk's own AI company, xAI, would be subject to the bill's requirements despite his previous pledge to leave California. The SB 1047 AI safety bill, proposed by Democratic legislators in February, is designed to prevent large AI models from being used to cause critical harms against humanity.

Musk's Stance on AI Regulation

Musk, a long-time advocate for AI regulation, expressed his support for the bill on a social media platform. He stated, This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill. He further emphasized that AI, like any product or technology that poses a potential risk to the public, should be regulated. This viewpoint, however, is not universally shared within the tech industry.

OpenAI's Opposition to the Bill

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has opposed the AI bill. In a letter to California state Senator Scott Wiener and Governor Gavin Newsom, the company argued that the AI revolution is only just beginning, and California's unique status as the global leader in AI is fuelling the state's economic dynamism. They believe that SB 1047 would threaten this growth, slow the pace of innovation, and lead California's world-class engineers and entrepreneurs to leave the state in search of greater opportunity elsewhere.

The Ongoing Debate

OpenAI further argued that America's AI edge should be protected with a set of federal policies rather than state ones. They believe this approach would provide clarity and certainty for AI labs and developers while also preserving public safety. In response, Senator Wiener argued that instead of criticizing what the bill actually does, OpenAI is suggesting that this issue should be left to Congress.

He also dismissed OpenAI's claim that companies will leave California if the bill passes, stating that this argument, which was also made when California passed its data privacy law, makes no sense given that SB 1047 is not limited to companies headquartered in California. Rather, the bill applies to companies doing business in California.

The proposed SB 1047 AI safety bill has sparked a heated debate in the tech industry. While Elon Musk supports the bill, arguing that AI, like any potentially risky technology, should be regulated, OpenAI opposes it, advocating for federal policies over state-level regulations. As the debate continues, it remains to be seen how this bill will impact the future of AI development and regulation in California and beyond.

This ongoing dialogue about the balance between innovation and public safety in the tech industry is reminiscent of historical debates over the regulation of new technologies, and its outcome will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for the future of AI.