California's controversial AI safety bill, SB 1047, has an unlikely supporter: Elon Musk.
“This is a tough call and it will upset some people, but all things considered, I think California should probably pass SB1047, the AI Safety Act,” Musk said in a post on X on Monday.
Notably, SB 1047 will require AI companies to implement strict safety protocols and kill switches for AI models. The bill is due for a final vote in the California Assembly later this month.
This is a tough call, and it will upset some people, but all things considered, I think California should probably pass SB 1047, the AI Safety Bill.
For more than 20 years, I have advocated for regulating AI, just as we do for any product or technology that poses a potential risk.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2024
Musk said supporting Wiener's bill was a “bitter pill” but that it was consistent with his own positions on regulating AI.
“I'm just continuing what I've been saying for 20 years. The xAI team is primarily located in Palo Alto so this affects us too,” Musk wrote in a separate post, referring to the AI startup he launched last year.
Weiner and Musk have previously clashed over a bill that would have banned schools from notifying parents about their child's change of gender identity.
Musk's support for SB 1047 sets him apart from his competitors in the AI race, with tech companies like OpenAI and Meta voicing their opposition to the bill.
Amazon-backed Anthropik gave the bill a cautious endorsement, but its CEO, Dario Amodei, wrote in a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week that “several areas of the bill remain of concern or ambiguity.”
Musk has long warned about the risks and dangers that AI poses to society, but he remains committed to dominating the field.
In May, Musk's xAI announced it had raised $6 billion in a Series B funding round.
The quirky billionaire is also aiming to position electric vehicle maker Tesla as an “AI or robotics company.”
“If you value Tesla the same way you value a car company, that's fundamentally the wrong framework, and if you ask the wrong questions, the right answers are impossible,” Musk said during the company's April earnings call.
A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment sent outside normal business hours.
