Bonta Sounds Alarm: States Must Keep Power to Fight AI Threats, Attorneys General Tell Congress

Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

Press release from the Office of Attorney General Rob Bonta:

[Yesterday,] California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a bipartisan coalition of 36 state attorneys general in sending a letter to Congress opposing a proposed provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that would preempt state laws addressing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). In the letter, the attorneys general argue that, while artificial intelligence promises to be a transformative technology in multiple fields, it also poses significant risks, especially to children, and that states must be empowered to utilize existing laws and formulate new approaches to mitigate potential harms associated with artificial intelligence. In a separate letter this past Saturday, Attorney General Bonta called on Congress to abaondon the proposed provision.

“Without appropriate guardrails, artificial intelligence poses significant risks to Americans nationwide, whether they be deepfake-empowered scams, AI outputs that drive individuals toward mental illness and self-harm, or AI chatbots that take part in sexual roleplay with children,” said Attorney General Bonta. “AI’s capabilities are rapidly evolving, and state-level engagement and enforcement is critical for both protecting citizens against short-term dangers and pioneering long-term solutions. We welcome efforts by Congress to address the risks associated with AI, but my fellow attorneys general and I must retain the right to protect our residents while those efforts are ongoing. We urge Congress to reject any attempts to limit our ability to protect state residents from emerging threats, artificially generated or otherwise.”

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting Californians by responding to emerging and rapidly evolving technology. For example, he has filed lawsuits against Meta and TikTok. Both lawsuits are ongoing and claim that the social media giants intentionally designed their platforms to addict young people to their mental and physical detriment.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta issued two legal advisories, reminding consumers of their rights, and advising businesses and healthcare entities who develop, sell, or use AI about their obligations under California law. Although AI technology is developing rapidly, entities must comply with existing California laws. In the last few months, Attorney General Bonta sent multiple letters to Congressional leaders strongly opposing a 10-year ban on states from enforcing any state law or regulation addressing AI and automated decision-making systems, arguing the rapidly evolving nature of AI technology demands the flexibility and responsiveness that states can provide and urging lawmakers to remove the provision. The ban was rejected in July. In September, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to OpenAI expressing concern over OpenAI’s products’ inappropriate interactions with children.

In filing today’s letter, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Utah, American Samoa, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.