US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Opposes California AI Regulation Bill

In a strong statement issued late yesterday, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi voiced her opposition to SB 1047, a California bill aimed at regulating artificial intelligence (AI). The bill, which has sparked significant debate, seeks to impose regulations on AI development within the state.

“The view of many of us in Congress is that SB 1047 is well-intentioned but ill-informed,” Pelosi remarked, signalling her concerns about the potential impact of the legislation. She emphasized that other prominent congresspeople from the Bay Area, including Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo, and Ro Khanna, share her apprehensions, describing the bill as “more harmful than helpful.”

SB 1047 was recently amended in response to feedback from critics, including the AI company Anthropic, and is now moving forward to California’s Assembly for a vote. Although this is a state-level bill, Pelosi’s influence as a senior and high-profile member of Congress is likely to carry significant weight among California lawmakers.

“AI springs from California,” Pelosi asserted. “We must have legislation that is a model for the nation and the world. We have the opportunity and responsibility to enable small entrepreneurs and academia – not big tech – to dominate.”

The bill, sponsored by State Senator Scott Wiener, has been met with both support and criticism. Wiener, in his response to Pelosi’s statement, expressed respect for her position but firmly disagreed with her assessment.

“I respectfully and strongly disagree with her statement,” Wiener said. “The bill requires only the largest AI developers to do what each and every one of them has repeatedly committed to do: Perform basic safety testing on massively powerful AI models.”

As SB 1047 heads to the Assembly, the debate over how best to regulate AI in California continues, with key voices like Pelosi’s shaping the conversation and influencing the future of AI governance in the state.