The AI Bill You Haven’t Heard Of That Could Throttle California’s Tech Sector
AB 2013 would undermine innovation and competition
The California innovation economy is world-leading. From the developers building foundational “frontier” models to the labs building medical cures on top of those models, California is actively writing the next chapter in American innovation with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).
Eager to ensure consumer safety and privacy, California state legislators have introduced a barrage of bills to regulate AI. Some AI bills have incited active debate and a firestorm of media attention. Others, like AB 2013, have largely flown under the radar. Despite its relatively quiet progress through the Capitol, this bill could devastate AI development in California if passed.
AB 2013 would undermine innovation and competition
Introduced by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, AB 2013 would require AI developers to publish some of their most sensitive and business-critical information — including extensive details on their training datasets and exactly how those datasets were used. In other words, entrepreneurs would have to broadcast their most valuable trade secrets for competitors to see.
This would deprive the most innovative startups of any competitive advantage. Worse, it could create a dynamic where only the largest, best-resourced companies can afford the overhead of continuously rebuilding new proprietary datasets from scratch. Forget about startups challenging the most established companies in tech; AB 2013 will only further entrench the dominance of existing tech giants.
Imagine requiring a chef to publish her recipes each time she created a new dish. No leading restaurateur would ever open a new restaurant in California under that condition. And many existing restaurants might move across state lines.
AB 2013 would make the California budget problems worse
If enacted, AB 2013 could lead to tech developers and investors fleeing the state. That’s bad news for California, which relies on a growing tech sector to support state-funded jobs in education, health care, and social services. New research from Chamber of Progress found that tech sector tax revenue in California is expected to grow by $2.6 billion each year. With California facing a significant budget deficit, lawmakers should be careful not to jeopardize this vital revenue stream.
No chef would be willing to share their secret recipes, but virtually all restaurants readily disclose allergens to help patrons make informed decisions. Transparency doesn’t have to come at the expense of innovation. The same can be true for AI.
Publishing a higher-level summary with metadata about the training set — like the size of the dataset, descriptors about its content, and rounded percentages of the language of the source material — could provide the public with transparency without compromising California’s innovation economy.
The intent behind AB 2013 is one we all support: to empower consumers and promote transparency in the AI ecosystem. However, we urge California legislators to find a way to foster AI transparency without sacrificing upstart competition.
Chamber of Progress (progresschamber.org) is a center-left tech industry association promoting technology’s progressive future. We work to ensure that all people benefit from technological leaps, and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.
Our work is supported by our corporate partners, but our partners do not sit on our board of directors and do not have a vote on or veto over our positions. We do not speak for individual partner companies and remain true to our stated principles even when our partners disagree.
