Newsom bans additional voter ID requirements, vetoes AI safety

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a bill into law preventing any city or district in California from adding voter ID verification measures above what the state already requires before a voter can cast his or her ballot. The same day he vetoed a bill that aimed to establish safeguards preventing abuses of artificial intelligence systems.

Did he say why he banned additional voter ID verification? Newsom did not provide any reasoning for his decision. But the text of the bill that he approved alleges that authorities have historically used voter ID laws as a tool to disenfranchise minorities, and voters with low incomes or disabilities.

What do opponents have to say in response? Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., on Monday criticized the legislation. Only half of all Americans are confident about the integrity of U.S. elections, and roughly 80 percent support voter ID requirements, he said.

Why did Newsom ban safeguards for AI development? Newsom vetoed the bill because he believed it failed to provide adequate flexibility for AI software developers, according to a statement from his office. He promised to work with AI developers to craft a new bill that would better address their concerns.

And what do opponents have to say about that? Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., expressed support for the bill last month. The bill would help AI companies report security risks that would prevent incidents like the Crowdstrike outage that occurred earlier this year, Obernolte said. As such, it would protect the U.S. economy and national security, he said.

Dig deeper: Read Mark S. Roosa’s column in WORLD Opinions about whether artificial intelligence will kill libraries.