Newsom orders California to fast-track independent AI oversight and study a mandatory 'kill switch' for frontier models

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday to accelerate the state's new law establishing independent oversight of AI companies and to advance the creation of an emergency shutoff, or kill switch, for frontier models. The order directs a group of experts to deliver within two months a guide for reinforcing California's AI safety and security laws. Proposals under consideration include requiring independent third parties to write safety plans for frontier AI companies, requiring companies to build an emergency shutoff that could halt an AI system, and requiring labs to embed independent auditors directly inside their operations. The governor's office frames the order as a response to recent AI incidents, including the Hugging Face attack, and notes that no federal law requires AI companies to report dangerous incidents. Newsom says California already has laws covering frontier-model safety, independent oversight, children and companion chatbots, privacy, deepfakes and cybersecurity, and he is calling on Congress to adopt that framework as a national baseline. The announcement sharply criticizes Donald Trump and Congress, who Newsom says are asleep at the wheel, after the president dismissed AI safety fears as a hoax. NBC News notes that Newsom, widely viewed as a 2028 presidential hopeful, joins a growing number of Democrats calling for stronger AI regulation. The embedded-auditor idea echoes a proposal that the AI labs themselves put forward as part of their call to pace development.