Anthropic Endorses California SB 53 AI Safety Bill

AI developer Anthropic officially endorsed California Senate Bill 53, legislation introduced by State Senator Scott Wiener to regulate the world's largest AI model developers. The bill targets companies with gross revenues exceeding $500 million, requiring them to establish safety frameworks and publish security reports before deploying powerful models.

The legislation aims to prevent catastrophic risks, which the bill defines as events causing at least 50 deaths or over one billion dollars in damages, including the creation of biological weapons or large-scale cyberattacks. Anthropic and co-founder Jack Clark stated a preference for federal standards but argued that AI advancements cannot wait for consensus in Washington.

Opposition to the bill includes the Trump administration and the Consumer Technology Association, both of whom claim such regulations hinder innovation and competitiveness against China. Governor Gavin Newsom has not yet commented on the bill, though he previously vetoed SB 1047, a similar safety measure.