Amidst a growing chorus of fears that the technology may pose to humankind.
By Catholics for Catholics
In the midst of fears of the possibility of Artificial Intelligence turning into a dangerous, lethal force run amok, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a possible leading Democratic contender for the presidency, signed an executive order Friday directing state officials to explore the feasibility of imposing an obligatory “kill switch” for the most advanced AI models.
Newsom, widely seen as a likely Democratic presidential contender in 2028, said he was taking the initiative because President Donald Trump was doing nothing on the matter, according to a story by Newsmax.
Still, Trump scorned fears this week over AI as a fraud and is pressing U.S. AI companies to keep advancing in order to stay ahead of China in developing the innovative technology.
California is the state where Silicon Valley is situated and where the AI firms at the forefront are located.
“The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not waiting to act — we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late.”
BREAKING: I just signed an EXECUTIVE ORDER to dramatically accelerate independent oversight of AI companies and advance the creation of an “AI kill switch.”
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 18, 2026
With Donald Trump and Congress failing to lead, California is stepping up to keep all Americans safe. pic.twitter.com/7ydkG0fdQM
Newsom’s directive comes days after apocalyptic rumors from industry insiders about the threat the technology presents to the human race.
One of the augurs is none other than Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive, who published an essay soon after advising caution.
“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models,” he wrote.
Others who have joined Amodei in the call for regulating AI are OpenAI chief Sam Altman and tech titan Elon Musk, as did Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, who himself has called for a US-led global regulatory body for the technology.
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