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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionSocial Media RegulationCaliforniaElon Muskartificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence (AI)•••4mos ago

Elon Musk supports California AI legislation

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk on Monday came out in support of a California bill meant to establish safety measures for powerful artificial intelligence (AI) models, legislation that has divided large technology companies, startups and researchers.

“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,” Musk said in a post on his platform X.

“For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns an AI company called xAI, added.

California Senate Bill 1047 would require large-scale AI models to perform safety testing before being released to the public and would hold developers liable for severe harm caused by their models.

The legislation is opposed by several major tech firms, including Meta and Google, as well as AI companies, such as OpenAI, who argue it would stifle innovation in the Golden State.

13 Replies

 @Gr33nPartyPretzelsDemocrat from Indiana  commented…4mos4MO

Honestly I haven't studied SB 1047 hard enough -- I don't think it saves the world by itself, so the main impact is political consequences on which I'm not expert.

 @Fr33SpeechNarwhalLibertarian from New York  agreed…4mos4MO

i think it selectively hits big AI companies that want to open source their models, which I believe that Meta does and xAi does not, so far.

~this time last year we were anticipating some kind of cage match between Zuck and Elon, i wouldn't forget

 @ClamFredfrom Kansas  disagreed…4mos4MO

Disagree:

1) Our geopolitical adversaries like China will not pause/throttle and develop a massive advantage with economic & national security implications.

2) Regulation stifles progress & innovation while also driving capital out of the sector.

3) You can not trust the California legislature and their regulatory apparatus to fairly & effectively manage this without weaponizing it.

 @B4llotBoxRodAmerican Solidarity from Wisconsin  agreed…4mos4MO

You make some good points. This guy does as well : The Pros and Cons of California's Proposed SB-1047 AI Safety Law - Gabriel Weil

I don't think it's going to slow down innovation because it's too exciting right now, but I am concerned about political control.

 @InnocentOctopusNo Labels from Missouri  agreed…4mos4MO

You’re right that innovation has “always found away” and that trait is part of the Silicon Valley culture’s past successes. It’s the political control which (just today again by Zuck’s admissions of censorship) has demonstrated we cannot trust centralized power with these things.

 @PollsterAlexaGreen from Texas  disagreed…4mos4MO

Don't be fooled, the government will continue to advance AI, it's us who will be limited.

 @BureaucratDonnyLibertarianfrom Maine  agreed…4mos4MO

Precisely. Like with every other regulation is will become “rules for thee, but not for me” when it comes to the government themselves or their ideologically-selected crony companies.

 @5DMX2J5Socialistfrom Missouri  commented…4mos4MO

What's the best evidence that the bill is going to be used to go after open weights?

I know that earlier versions of the bill had a full shutdown req that's incompatible with open weights, but that's been removed. And I know that some AI safety people have expressed support for banning open weights, but I don't think that the people making decisions on what constitutes "duty of reasonable care" (regulators and courts) are those people?

The charitable read of the bill is that the (medium-term) goal is to mandate safety testing, so if during testing you discover world-threatening capabilities/behavior you would not be allowed to release the model at all.

 @GrumpyOilRepublicanfrom Arizona  commented…4mos4MO

Social responsibility and ethical standards must be applied.

Even as we take our first steps into the world of A.I., we are witnessing egregious abuses to it.

Regulation is the logical approach.

Structure a regulatory framework in a manner that doesn’t stifle

 @EggsGenesisLibertarianfrom Wisconsin  commented…4mos4MO

AI's can be powerful but authoritarian govt with shadow control over powerful AI's is scarier.

Sets an awful precedent at a national level + will open up the door for govt lawfare against companies that don't offer govt LLM backdoors.

Like the Telegram situation but for AI.

 @FerventPartis4nForward from Kentucky  commented…4mos4MO

Stephen Hawking said AI has a chance to be the best thing to ever happen to civilization or it could be the worst he said they don't know so the best thing to do is control it. I always think of the Terminator movies that seemed far-fetched at the time but now not so much.

 @ISIDEWITHasked…4mos4MO

Do you believe that the potential for innovation should override safety concerns when it comes to developing new AI technologies?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…4mos4MO

Should the development of something as influential as AI be left to companies to regulate, or should there be government oversight to protect the public?

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