Anthropic, OpenAI dub Newsom’s AI bill ‘meaningful’ and ‘critical’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed one of the first U.S. bills regulating AI companies into law Monday, which is likely to spark global interest as 32 of the world’s top 50 AI companies are California-based. The bill, called the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, requires top AI leaders to report AI-related safety concerns, enact protections for whistleblowers with safety concerns and increase transparency on following best practices.

“As a global leader in technology, [California has] a unique opportunity to provide a blueprint for well-balanced AI policies beyond our borders — especially in the absence of a comprehensive federal AI framework,” Newsom explained.

Anthropic and OpenAI — two of the world’s top AI companies with San Francisco headquarters — have publicly supported Newsom’s bill. Anthropic cofounder and head of policy Jack Clark said the act “establishes meaningful transparency” without “imposing prescriptive technical mandates.” OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice said California has paved “a critical path toward harmonization with the federal government,” adding that if the bill is implemented effectively, it will “allow federal and state governments to cooperate on the safe deployment of AI technology.”

AI ‘actress’ Tilly Norwood angers Hollywood, SAG-AFTRA

Tilly Norwood — an AI-generated actress with clips dodging explosions, selling cars and fighting dragons — has caught the interest of talent agents and the criticism of SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood stars this week. Over 160,000 media entertainers and professionals participated in SAG-AFTRA’s 2023 strike for fair wages and treatment in the industry; and Hollywood is still struggling to recover box office revenue following COVID-19 setbacks. 

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor; it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and media professionals, wrote in a statement Tuesday. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”

Norwood’s creator and CEO of AI production company Particle6, Eline Van der Velden, responded that Norwood was created as a “piece of art,” not a competition for human players in the media business.

Afghanistan’s internet reinstated after Taliban block 

Afghanistan’s 40 million residents regained internet access on Wednesday, following an unexplained, two-day block enacted by the Taliban. Internet disruptions began last month, and this week’s blackout was the first internet blackout of its kind since 2021, when the Taliban regained control of the country. Out-of-country flights were also canceled during the blackout period; and banking, business and aid work were disrupted.

App Updates

Meta, which earned 97% of its 2023 and 2024 revenue through advertising, announced Wednesday that it will begin leveraging conversations between its 1 billion monthly active users and chatbots for targeted advertisements.

Alongside its launch of an invite-only, TikTok-like app, OpenAIannounced Sora 2, an AI-powered video generation tool on Wednesday. The tool, which specializes in cinematic, anime and realistic video styles, is only available within OpenAI’s new app.