Governor Newsom announces results from California's first-in-the-nation project to involve Californians in decisions about AI

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Oct 13, 2026

Governor Newsom announces results from California's first-in-the-nation project to involve Californians in decisions about AI

Governor Newsom announces results from California's first-in-the-nation project to involve Californians in decisions about AI

What you need to know: Through Governor Newsom's first-in-the-nation digital democracy platform, Engaged California, Californians are helping shape the future of AI policy. The Governor announced a new report that outlines Californians' feedback and concerns. Their main message: Californians should have a say in how AI is built, used, and governed.

SACRAMENTO — Californians are using their voice to shape the future of AI. Governor Newsom today announced a first-in-the-nation report capturing Californians' priorities for how artificial intelligence should be developed, used, and governed, based on the state's first statewide public-engagement effort through its innovative digital democracy program, Engaged California. One message came through clearly: Californians want to be in the loop on AI policy—not just how people use AI, but how companies build it and how government regulates it. As Trump and the federal government abdicate their responsibility to keep people safe from AI disruptions, California is leading the nation in establishing safeguards to increase transparency and accountability as the technology rapidly advances.

The recommendations will help guide policy decisions and add to the Governor's strongest-in-the-nation AI policy framework, including nation-leading laws to protect employees in the workplace.

AI is changing how we live, work, learn, and connect, and Californians should have a real voice in what that future looks like. We're listening directly to people across the state, gathering their input, and making sure this technology is developed and governed in a way that expands opportunity, protects people, and keeps Californians at the center of the decisions ahead. Through Engaged California, we are making government more accessible and making sure every Californian has a seat at the table.

Governor Gavin Newsom

"California has always been a place where bold ideas take root. And with the creation of Engaged California, the state has done something truly historic: built a first-in-the-nation deliberative democracy platform that puts the people's voices at the center of government," said Director Jeffery Marino of the Office of Data and Innovation. "This is a victory for Californians. This program gives them a seat at the table when it comes to the policies and programs that shape their lives."

What we heard

Three themes came up the most often and got the strongest support in the first-in-the-nation engagement.

• Hold AI companies accountable for the harm they cause
• Protect people and the environment from the resource needs of AI
• Set rules for where and how AI can be used safely

Participants offered broad perspectives on how California should approach AI regulation. One participant urged strong protections for workers: "Making sure that our governments are responsible to our citizens for the transparency regarding building and construction and implementation of data centers would be a helpful policy."

Others cautioned against overregulation of industry. One participant noted: "Maybe a requirement to release an AI model to the public requires it to pass some bias testing?"

Some called for greater transparency from AI companies themselves. One participant stated: "The first thing I think is that we compel the AI companies to open up their black box, and have more peer-reviewed studies about the claims they're making, just like we did with studying the harms that social media has on people that are under 18. More studies on how AI is impacting our ability to think critically."

A full list of recommendations is in the final report.

Engaged California

Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California started Engaged California, the nation's first digital democracy effort. It began with a pilot program as part of the state's response to the LA firestorms. The pilot sought input from thousands of local voices to help shape recovery efforts. Impacted residents helped identify and prioritize recovery needs, leading to 19 recommendations for government action. Engaged California gives Californians a unique opportunity to share their thoughts and connect with others on topics that matter to them. It creates new opportunities for Californians to connect with their government to inform and shape policy through honest, respectful discussions. As AI becomes more prevalent in our lives and the federal government fails to act to protect people from potential disruptions, Governor Newsom officially launched the first statewide use of the tool in May 2026, open to every resident, giving all Californians a stronger voice in AI policy. Governor Newsom's first-in-the-nation effort empowers Californians to engage with government in a new way and creates a space for dialogue to build understanding and shape AI policy decisions.

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AI, the California way

Beginning with his first-in-the-nation 2023 executive order on generative AI, Governor Newsom has pursued executive action, legislation passed in partnership with the Legislature, regulation, procurement, and public-private partnerships to address nearly every major area of AI policy:

✅ Workers and AI disruption: Governor Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation executive order addressing AI's economic and labor impacts, including expanded tracking of AI's economic effects and work to adapt job-training and public-benefit programs. California has also launched an AI Unemployment Tracker and solicited statewide public input on AI's economic impacts through Engaged California.

✅ Frontier AI safety: In 2025, Governor Newsom signed SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, the nation's first AI safety law. It requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose safety frameworks, report specified critical safety incidents to the state, and protect whistleblowers who report serious risks.

✅ Independent AI oversight: In 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 813, making California the first state in the nation to establish a framework for certifying independent verification organizations with sufficient expertise and demonstrated independence from AI companies to objectively assess AI systems and models for safety and risk. He also signed AB 1405, establishing a state registry for AI auditors and standards for their independence, transparency, and integrity.

✅ Child safety standards for AI companions: This year, Governor Newsom signed the bipartisan Adam's Law, requiring safeguards around companion chatbots used by children, including suicide and self-harm crisis protocols, parental controls, and notifications when safety settings are disabled. It is the first law in the country requiring independent child-safety audits and comprehensive risk assessments prior to release. California also enacted laws to ban toys containing AI companion chatbots for five years; prohibit use of student personal information to train AI models; and expand protections against AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

✅ Social media and children: Governor Newsom signed the strongest-in-nation legislation prohibiting social-media companies from providing users under 16 with addictive features including autoplay and algorithmic feeds based on user history and profiles. California has enacted nation-leading requirements for responsible AI and social media use for children, including warning labels for young users, required age-verification signals, guidance to protect kids from after-school cyberbullying, and a ban on online platforms knowingly providing an addictive feed to a minor without parental consent.

✅ Deep fakes and synthetic content: In nation-leading action, Governor Newsom banned and cracked down on sexually explicit deepfakes, required AI watermarking, addressed deceptive AI-generated election content, and required transparency around AI training data.

✅ Protecting privacy and civil liberties: Governor Newsom signed the Delete Act, a first-in-the-nation privacy law that lets Californians direct registered data brokers to delete their personal information. California subsequently launched DROP, which enables people to submit a single deletion request to registered data brokers. In March 2026, Governor Newsom also issued an executive order strengthening privacy and civil-liberties protections for state AI procurement. CalPrivacy has separately adopted protections involving automated decision-making technology.

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✅ Cybersecurity: Governor Newsom launched a first-in-the-nation AI Cyber Defense Program to use AI to identify vulnerabilities, harden networks, and support incident response. California is also establishing an AI Cybersecurity Officer in each agency and working with frontier AI companies and critical-infrastructure partners on response protocols and tabletop exercises.

✅ AI-enabled fraud: Governor Newsom launched a Tech Fraud Task Force to combat AI-enabled fraud. California has also acted against AI-generated robocall scams and addressed algorithmic pricing through state antitrust law.

Partners in innovation

To advance Engaged California, the Government Operations Agency and the California Office of Data and Innovation (ODI) (https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/19/governor-newsom-signs-new-laws-to-protect-california-elections-from-trump-interference/) are working in partnership with Carnegie California, the West Coast office and program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to lead the development of this program and its supporting deliberative engagement tools. Other program design partners and advisors for this initiative include scholars and leaders from the American Public Trust, the Berggruen Institute, Stanford University's Deliberative Democracy Lab, UC Berkeley, Harvard University's Center for Internet and Society, the San Francisco Foundation, Project Liberty Institute, and the Kapor Center.

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