September 17, 2024
Letter to Governor Newsom from ParentsTogether Action
Dear Governor Newsom,
As a parent yourself, you know all too well the issues facing our children in the modern world. Far too often we are caught off-guard as new threats to our children’s well-being, safety and health arise. We find ourselves scrambling to clean up the messes that we had no part in making. From social media to gun violence, we are always playing catch up, trailing behind the forces that have little regard for our children as they continue to amass money and power.
That’s why we formed Parents Together Action, a parent-led, people-powered education and advocacy organization that takes action on the most pressing issues for American families – online safety, economic security, education, and more. We represent more than 3 million families across the country, and our work reaches over 1 in 4 parents in the U.S.
Rarely do we have the chance to get out ahead of an emerging threat. While new technology holds so much promise, a handful of companies are building advanced intelligence that many experts warn could soon pose large-scale risks to society – without basic guardrails or democratic oversight. You have the opportunity to take action before the worst consequences materialize, and to invest in public infrastructure to ensure AI research and innovation benefits all of us, not just commercial interests. That opportunity and responsibility now lies on your desk.
On behalf of our community of parents, we urge you to sign SB 1047, Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, into law.
Under your leadership, California has strengthened its nation-leading gun safety laws, accelerated the transition to clean energy, and passed historic measures to tackle online hate speech and extremism. You are no stranger to being the first mover and a leader on issues of national significance. Common sense AI legislation should be the next target. SB 1047’s bipartisan passage in both of California’s legislative chambers reflects the growing national consensus. Recent polling shows broad, public support across the political spectrum for proactive measures to ensure AI is developed safely and responsibly. California is uniquely positioned to steer AI’s future, and you can lead the way. By enacting SB 1047, California will:
Require companies to conduct safety testing before large, frontier models are released, and hold them responsible for taking reasonable precautions if their models present risk of societal level harm;
Protect whistleblowers seeking to come forward to warn about AI risk; and
Demonstrate global leadership by protecting public safety and innovation, while investing in public infrastructure to expand access to AI technology.
Whenever a state moves first to take action on a consequential issue, we hear the common refrain that we should leave it to congress to act. On issues from privacy to gun safety, we know we cannot wait for congress to act – they can’t or they won’t. We look to the leadership of states like California to tackle the hard issues that matter most to families and children.
For these reasons, we urge you to sign SB 1047 (Wiener). We thank you for your attention in this important matter.
Sincerely,
Ailen Arreaza
Executive Director
ParentsTogether Action
