Gavin Newsom to Take Action on AI ‘Safety’ Before Leaving Office over ‘AI’s Potential Risks to Humanity’

Governor Gavin Newsom’s communication mouthpiece posted there will be some big news tomorrow attached to this:

“Governor Gavin Newsom told POLITICO he plans to take further action on AI safety before leaving office, raising the possibility of a special California legislative session amid escalating concerns about the technology’s potential risks to humanity.”

Some big news tomorrow…. 👀 https://t.co/qE6PkTgrkC

— Izzy Gardon (@iGardon) September 17, 2026

And Politico announced:

Gavin Newsom told us he plans to take further action on AI safety before leaving office – raising the possibility of a special California legislative session amid concerns about AI’s potential risks to humanity.

In June 2026, California and Anthropic announced a statewide partnership that makes Claude available to state agencies and local governments at a 50% discount. Governor Gavin Newsom sold it as a first-of-its-kind deal to expand responsible AI use in government: help workers draft and summarize documents, analyze information, handle routine tasks, and improve public services—without replacing staff. Anthropic also provides free workforce training, technical assistance, and developer input on workflows.

The deal sits against a backdrop of federal tension: the Trump administration had restricted some Anthropic model rollouts and labeled the company a supply-chain risk, and Anthropic had earlier clashed with the Pentagon over contract terms on surveillance and autonomous weapons, Politico reported. California officials said that federal designation did not come up in their negotiations.

But far more interesting than Gov. Newsom answering to his tech overlords and big donors is Rob Pyers’ post:

Oh.https://t.co/VQ9g3f2oMm https://t.co/C9Q5pFdnE9 pic.twitter.com/NM8d4OUS3S

— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) September 17, 2026

He links to a Late Filing Report to the Secretary of State by the California Democrat Party showing huge contributions:

Anthropic PBC: $49,000

and

Anthropic PBC: $801,000

No word on what the Anthropic deal means for California’s data security, which has been historically a mind-boggling deficient problem.

In response to Sen. Josh Hawley’s post, I noted today on X that AI CEOs want indemnification. And Democrats are more concerned with what AI will uncover about them. Both should be liable.

AI CEOs want indemnification. And Democrats are more concerned with what AI will uncover about them. Both should be liable. https://t.co/v1EvEPCgFC

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) September 17, 2026

As I said earlier today on X:

The members receiving the most AI money are also the most vocal calling for a slow down and govt regulation.

One of the loudest mouths received by far the most $$$: Ro Khanna (D-CA-17):

The members receiving the most AI money are also the most vocal calling for a slow down and govt regulation. One of the loudest mouths received by far the most $$$:
Ro Khanna (D-CA-17)
Sam T. Liccardo (D-CA-16)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Adam Smith (D-WA-9)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18)… https://t.co/Ce9eTso84b

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) September 17, 2026

Here is the list – look at how many California members are on it:

and here is the chart:

Democrats are now realizing that AI is being used to reveal all of their fraud, and at breakneck speed. Citizens can  research, investigative journalists can research, and justice department officials can investigate using AI. So naturally they want control over it, and AI CEO’s are only too happy to bow down to regulation if it means indemnity.

California’s “behested payment” system lets officials solicit money for charities and nonprofits. Newsom has reported more than $340 million in behested payments since 2011, and tech firms figure prominently.

Newsom has signed state partnerships and discounted-access deals with Anthropic, plus education/workforce agreements with Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, and NVIDIA. He vetoed the stricter 2024 AI “kill switch” bill (SB 1047) that OpenAI, Google, and Meta opposed, then signed a narrower 2025 transparency bill, the Lever recently reported.

Watch what Gavin Newsom does next.

My favorite response: