Good morning, it’s Monday, August 19, 2024. In today’s edition, California’s big AI legislation still alive; Newsom signs retail theft bills; Ayotte leads big in NH GOV primary:
Top Stories
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: California’s Assembly Appropriations Committee has advanced the Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, Sen. Scott Wiener’s (D) proposal to prevent devastating attacks or mass casualty events caused by AI systems run amok. The bill, which passed the Senate earlier this year, would require regular safety checks by the firms that make groundbreaking AI systems.
But several elements of the measure dropped out in the committee process as the tech industry set the lobbyists loose. The bill no longer requires frontier AI models to have a “kill switch,” and there’s no more mention of a new regulatory body to oversee AI systems. Anthropic, one of the mega-AI firms that raised objections, had suggested many of the changes.
The California legislation is a first-of-its-kind measure, one that would set the table for the many other states considering AI regulations. But it’s no sure thing even if lawmakers get their work done by the end of the month: No one knows how Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would act if the bill reaches his desk. He’s been wary about AI regulations in a state that’s home to 35 of the 50 largest AI companies in the world. Read more at Pluribus News.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: California Gov. Newsom has signed a package of ten bills combatting retail theft into law. The bills allow prosecutors to combine values of goods stolen from different victims to increase penalties on thieves; make it easier to prosecute auto thefts; and require online marketplaces to collect bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers. (Associated Press)
JOURNALISM: California’s Senate Appropriations Committee advanced legislation that would require tech companies like Meta and Google to pay a percentage of advertising revenue to news outlets, and a bill to implement a data extraction mitigation fee to pay for a tax credit to fund more journalists. The bills, which face serious tech industry objections, now head to the Rules Committee. (Sacramento Bee)
ENVIRONMENT: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is considering legislation requiring companies that do business with the state do not contribute to tropical forest degradation or deforestation. The bill targets companies that use tropical hardwoods. (State of Politics)
In Politics & Business
NEW HAMPSHIRE: A new St. Anselm College poll finds former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) leading former Senate President Chuck Morse (R) 59%-25% in the Republican primary for governor. On the Democratic side, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D) leads Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington (D) by a slimmer 37%-28% margin. (WMUR)
UTAH: State Rep. Brian King (D) teamed up with Rep. Phil Lyman (R) to film a joint advertisement in their respective campaigns against Gov. Phil Cox (R), a parody of Cox’s ad from four years ago in which he appeared with his Democratic rival. King is the Democratic nominee for governor; Lyman, who lost to Cox in the GOP primary, is considering a write-in campaign. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Watch the ad here. And watch Cox’s ad from 2020 here.
FLORIDA: Legal marijuana manufacturer Trulieve has contributed another $5 million to Florida’s legalization ballot measure, bringing their total contributions up to $65 million for the year. The legalization campaign is using GOP strategist Jeff Roe’s firm to run its advertising campaign. (Florida Politics)
The irony: Roe was the chief strategist for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) presidential super PAC. DeSantis opposes the legalization measure.
By The Numbers
20: The number of registered Democrats in Blaine County, Neb., the smallest number of Democrats in any county in the 30 states that allow voters to register by party. (Associated Press)
10: The number of senators appointed to vacant seats in New Jersey since the direct election of senators began in 1913. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has tapped former top aide George Helmy to serve the remaining few months of ex-Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D) tenure after Menendez resigned over federal convictions. (New Jersey Globe)
$3.5 million: The amount Vermont collected in revenue from online sports betting operations in the first six months of operation. That means Vermonters bet about $100 million on sports over the first half of the year. (VT Digger)
Off The Wall
Iowa has set a new state record for the number of confirmed tornadoes to touch down in a single year. The state has seen 122 tornadoes touch down, including 39 EF1 storms. (Des Moines Register)
Thomson, Ga., Mayor Benji Cary Cranford has been indicted and arrested on felony charges that he left a bottle of gin in a ditch for a prison work crew. Prosecutors allege the mayor left a bottle of Seagram’s in the path of a work crew from a local correctional facility. (Associated Press)
Former New Hampshire state Rep. Andrew Bouldin (D) is running for office again as Andrew Kennedy, after changing his name and moving to a new location. As a state representative, Bouldin was investigated for allegedly grooming an underage girl, though he was never charged. (NH Journal)
Quote of the Day
“I’ve picked up a meeting or two on behalf of the governor, but mostly it’s kind of business as usual.”
— Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D), on Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) absence from the state as he runs for vice president. (Minnesota Reformer)