California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, also known as Senate Bill 53, into law. This legislation marks a significant step in regulating artificial intelligence, requiring developers of advanced AI models to disclose detailed safety protocols and report critical incidents.
The law targets "frontier models" trained on computing power exceeding 10^26 floating-point operations or costing over $100 million. Developers of these models must publish transparency reports identifying the model's release date, modalities, intended uses, and restrictions on deployment. They must also summarize their catastrophic-risk assessments and describe the role of benchmarks for transparency and accountability.
The law positions California as a global leader in responsible AI development and may influence federal policies. Compliance challenges are expected, particularly for startups scaling up to frontier levels. Companies face civil penalties of up to $1 million per violation for non-compliance.¹ ²
The law takes effect on January 1, 2027, giving firms time to adapt. Industry observers predict legal challenges over definitions like "frontier model," which could encompass emerging technologies like multimodal AI systems.
