Latest news with #Technology:CaliforniaDecoded
Politico
23-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
The big push to power AI
Presented by Programming note: Future Pulse will be off on Monday but back in your inboxes on Tuesday. DATA DIVE Data centers — large-scale artificial intelligence server hubs — are a hot topic right now, in Sacramento and beyond. Our POLITICO data team colleagues Catherine Allen, Rosmery Izaguirre and Claudine Hellmuth did a deep dive into the data around data centers. It comes as Stargate, a joint venture between San Francisco-based OpenAI and other big technology players, is investing $500 billion toward expanding data center infrastructure over the next four years, POLITICO's Technology: California Decoded newsletter reports. California is among 16 states being reviewed for data center sites. California has the second-largest number of operational data centers in the country after Virginia, and more are underway, the POLITICO analysis found. Nationwide, data centers are projected to double their power consumption by 2026, tightening already limited supplies of water and electricity. At the same time, lawmakers in Sacramento are trying to strike a balance between incentivizing AI investments and environmental goals. What's next: The Trump administration is moving full steam ahead on data centers, announcing last month that it's eyeing 16 sites for new AI infrastructure. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. A New Jersey hawk is using traffic signals to hunt its prey. The clever predator relied on sound cues from traffic signals to exploit cars for cover, and sneak up on its next meal, according to an editorial in Frontiers in Ethology. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Danny Nguyen at dnguyen@ Carmen Paun at cpaun@ Ruth Reader at rreader@ or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@ Want to share a tip securely? Message us on Signal: Dannyn516.70, CarmenP.82, RuthReader.02 or ErinSchumaker.01. FORWARD THINKING Texas is about to launch an initiative to research psychedelics as a potential treatment for mental health conditions. The state has approved $50 million in funding for clinical trials of ibogaine, a psychedelic drug derived from an African shrub. The move follows the Texas legislature's passage of a bipartisan bill earlier this month to fund a grant program through Texas' Health and Human Services Commission aimed at gaining FDA approval for the psychedelic as a drug therapy. The $50 million will fund a partnership with an-as-yet-to-be-named drug developer, which will run the trials. Texas will retain a financial stake in any drug successfully developed, with trials likely taking place at a Texas university or hospital system. One of the Republican co-authors of the bill, state Sen. Tan Parker, has said he sees veterans with opioid dependence, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries as key beneficiaries of the research bill. 'The opioid crisis has left too many families shattered and too many Veterans without answers,' said his co-author, Republican state Rep. Cody Harris, in a statement. Why it matters: The first-in-the-nation initiative positions Texas as a hub for ibogaine research and creates a blueprint for other states that may want to replicate Texas' approach. While the FDA last year rejected drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics' plan to offer a different psychedelic drug, MDMA, alongside therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, advocates are cautiously optimistic about their prospects for advancing psychedelic therapy under the Trump administration.
Politico
19-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
What the new AI report could mean for health care
We're extending the free trial through April 25 of POLITICO Pro's Technology: California Decoded newsletter, exploring how the Golden State is defining tech policy within its borders and beyond. QUICK FIX — Top health lawmaker Mia Bonta exclusively tells us her views on Newsom's expert report. — Meanwhile, one of the report's authors explains why they avoided politics where possible. — Budget watchdog asks lawmakers to rethink a $25 million CHIPS investment. Welcome to California Decoded! Happy Wednesday, there are no controversies to report. JK here we go. Send feedback, tips and story ideas to tkatzenberger@ and chasedf@ Driving the day INTERVIEW: RUBBER MEETS ROAD — Assembly Health Chair Mia Bonta sees an opportunity to make California healthier with the new AI report commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. The Bay Area Democrat (and potential 2026 state superintendent candidate, as our Playbook colleagues report), told us the expert panel's call for greater AI model transparency highlights one of her biggest concerns: that companies are pushing AI as a replacement for health workers and stand-ins for kids seeking therapy. Bonta introduced a bill last month, AB 489, that would ban companies from marketing AI chatbots as licensed health professionals like nurses and psychologists. Her committee may soon take up another bill that would outlaw chatbots from luring in kids with addictive reward structures. And there could be more legislation to come in future sessions, she told us, aimed at wielding transparency requirements to ensure equitable care and lower hospital bills. 'The industry still has major steps to take to achieve transparency,' Bonta, whose husband Rob Bonta has also been taking on tech industry challenges as attorney general, told us. California Decoded sat down with Bonta to examine her vision for AI policy in health care. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Are you pursuing a broad approach or a more pointed approach to regulating AI in health care? No pun intended, but I think our regulatory framework needs to be pretty surgical … I'm particularly focused right now on making sure that health care professionals are not misrepresented to vulnerable communities. Given the mental health care crisis that is happening for children right now, having them think that they are getting counsel and advice from a human being … and having, in actuality, that be an AI-generated avatar, that's a deep concern to me. Do you think the state needs to create clearer rules for how AI chatbots are allowed to market themselves, particularly to children? I do, and I think it's very complicated … We have to get very skilled in the Legislature to be able to make sure that we're providing very clear language that doesn't have unintended consequences around what we're trying to regulate. I think we were very close in the U.S. to adopting a regulatory framework that would have a robust application [to kids' safety], and now we are not in a position to be able to rely on the federal government. That context is causing California to need to step up. Is that because of President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress? It is definitely because of an attitude that does not protect humanity, doesn't protect data and privacy and doesn't protect the basis of allowing us to use science and data and research to drive our decisions. Do you see any gaps or missing perspectives in pieces of legislation dealing with kids' safety and AI? I think we always run the risk of not taking the time to hear the voices that don't have the ability to be in the room. If you take these broad conversations around AI regulation, and you are somehow not acting [on] the human components of how we need to shape this and making sure that we're focused on traditionally disenfranchised communities — like youth and low-income people and people with disabilities and people of color and BIPOC communities — you are always going to come up with the wrong answer. Are you worried about how insurance companies use AI to evaluate claims? I think it's an area of concern. We just had a briefing from the insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, and he raised this as an area of inquiry himself. Anytime that you're using large language models, you need to make sure that we're testing for bias, and certainly when your health insurance claims could be denied based on some kind of generated AI model. Is there anything under the radar that you're watching to see if it's worth tackling with future legislation, possibly next year or next session? I could imagine a world in which we are using the crazy amount of data that we have around why health care costs are so high to be able to generate some solutions that would be cost-saving to the individual. That is my pie-in-the-sky hope for how we'll proceed with legislation moving forward. HAPPENING TODAY ALL DAY — Nvidia's annual GTC conference continues in San Jose. 1:00 p.m. — The Assembly Communications and Conveyance committee holds an informational hearing on AT&T's bid to phase out its 'carrier-of-last-resort' obligation, which requires the telecom giant to provide landline phone service in parts of California where no other coverage is available. Happening tomorrow EVENT: DECODED GOES LIVE — Got a burning question to ask us? Now's your chance! We're going live tomorrow at 12 p.m. PT for POLITICO Pro subscribers in a bicoastal briefing on how Silicon Valley leaders are shaping policy debates in Washington and Sacramento — and how government officials are either advancing or obstructing their agenda. We'll touch on issues including AI regulation, data centers, privacy laws and how tariffs are impacting California's tech sector in conversation with our Washington-based colleagues Brendan Bordelon, Steven Overly and Luiza Savage. Sign up for tomorrow's briefing here. Artificial Intelligence INTERVIEW: AUTHOR'S NOTE — While Sacramento and Silicon Valley are fervently parsing the AI report commissioned by Newsom, we went to the source and asked one of the three main authors about what it is and isn't intended to do, and its potential political impacts. Jennifer Chayes is the dean UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science and Society, part of the trio tasked by Newsom with putting together the report. She told California Decoded their goal was to come up with a common set of principles that could form the starting point for policy, while avoiding third rail issues like AI's impact on the labor force or its massive and growing energy use. 'I think it's a wonderful starting point now for legislation,' Chayes said. But she also said she and her coauthors were concerned about the report being politicized and misconstrued. 'It is just the nature of important conversations like this that pieces may be taken out of context and used in ways that detract from our goal,' Chayes said. While Chayes studiously avoided commenting on any pending legislation, one section of the report did sync up with state Sen. Scott Wiener's current AI safety bill. Both contain sections emphasizing the need to expand whistleblower protections for those inside AI companies to ring the alarm should a program become dangerous. AI companies may not be thrilled about the idea and the greater potential for employees to send up flares that could give away their secret sauce. But Chayes said it was a section that all the authors agreed on and which was grounded in existing scholarly work. That is an example of the authors basing their carefully-worded report on existing research to get around their findings becoming a political lightning rod. And while so far their findings have been mostly uncontroversial, not everyone is pleased. The report 'primarily urges that California wait and see — leaving lawmakers with little direction on best policies to pursue,' wrote Jonathan Mehta Stein, chair of the advocacy group California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, which last year supported Wiener's vetoed bill on AI safety, SB 1047, that ultimately prompted Newsom's creation of the expert group. But Chayes said it was probably too early to say if sweeping regulation of frontier AI model's like Wiener's prior effort is the final destination on the path laid out by her report. 'I think AI is evolving too quickly,' she said. 'You don't want to create policies that cannot adapt.' Silicon Valley IN THIS ECONOMY? — California's in no state to pig out on (computer) chips that rely on Washington's support, thanks to Trump's tariffs and 'uncertain' federal spending, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said yesterday. As we reported for Pro subscribers yesterday, the LAO recommended that state lawmakers reject Newsom's budget request to spend $25 million on a computer chip design center proposed under the federal CHIPS Act. The money is better spent on 'more promising' development opportunities like income tax credits amid the state's 'precarious' budget outlook and Trump's federal spending clampdown, the office said. It's a dramatic announcement as the future of the CHIPS Act hangs in the balance, with Trump calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to 'get rid' of the law during a joint address to Congress earlier this month. Congress passed the bipartisan law in 2022 to keep U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ahead of overseas competitors like China and Taiwan. But there's no guarantee lawmakers will listen to the budget wonks. Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, a Silicon Valley Democrat, told us yesterday that California should keep its $25 million commitment to the chip design facility unless federal funding is 'foolishly but formally withdrawn.' 'Backpedaling on these critical investments in technology manufacturing only serves our economic competitors and political adversaries like China,' Ahrens said in a statement. Privacy NO, SERIOUSLY, IN THIS ECONOMY?? — Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva warned California's privacy watchdogs yesterday to play nice with businesses as Trump's tariffs weigh on the state's economy. The Orange County Democrat's warning came after business groups protested the California Privacy Protection Agency's consideration of potentially sweeping new AI rules at a budget subcommittee hearing yesterday. Big Tech and state business leaders fear the rules will trigger job cuts and billions of dollars in lost profits. Advocates argue the rules could grant users more control over how their information is used online. Her concerns show lawmakers are carefully considering how slumping tech stocks caused by Trump's tariffs could hit California's bottom line as they navigate the state budget process. 'We are in a very precarious time economically when we weigh what's happening with the federal government with tariffs,' Quirk-Silva told CPPA staff at the hearing. 'We need to listen to our business owners because these compounded impacts are, in fact, going to drive people out of the state unless we can do whatever we need to do to protect them.' CPPA staff told Quirk-Silva the agency is considering criticism from business groups alongside support from labor unions and data privacy advocates as it finalizes the proposed rules. The draft regulations would require businesses to scale back their use of automated tools in everything from hiring to advertising if people ask to opt out. Byte Sized — Vice President JD Vance is trying to position himself as a member of both the MAGA populists and right-leaning Silicon Valley tech elites, saying the two tribes can live in peace (POLITICO) — The Federal Trade Commission removed content critical of Amazon, Microsoft and AI companies from its website (Wired) — Employees of a federal tech unit allege they were targeted by Elon Musk in part because of their role in preventing overspending (The Intercept) Compiled by Nicole Norman Have a tip, event or creepy glimmer of empathy from an AI nurse to share? Do reach out: Emma Anderson, California tech editor; Chase DiFeliciantonio, AI and automation reporter; and Tyler Katzenberger, Sacramento tech reporter.
Politico
17-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Waiting on the wonks
Available free through April 11, POLITICO Pro's Technology: California Decoded newsletter will explore how the Golden State is defining tech policy within its borders and beyond. QUICK FIX — How Newsom's AI panel could change Sacramento's tune on tech this year. — Waymo can finally drive at SFO (with training wheels). — Silicon Valley and Hollywood gird for an AI copyright turf war. Welcome to California Decoded! Happy Monday, everybody already signed up for GTC, right? Send feedback, tips and story ideas to chasedf@ and tkatzenberger@ Driving the Day ANALYSIS: WATCHING AND W(AI)TING — If you're noticing that a number of AI bills in Sacramento are looking a bit scrawny so far this session, it's not your imagination. Some of Sacramento's tech hawks have yet to fully flesh out AI bills, as they await an expected report commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom on how AI should be regulated. When Newsom vetoed state Sen. Scott Wiener's marquee SB 1047 on AI safety last year, he announced a three-member panel to study the issue of AI regulation, the first draft of which is slated to be released in the first quarter of the year, meaning by the end of this month. At least four other bills on AI and automation have still yet to be built out ahead of that release. Wiener himself recently told us he would be watching out for the report as he works on his second attempt at legislation this year. Right now, it focuses mainly on bolstering whistleblower protections and building more computing power for AI research efforts, but the San Francisco Democrat previously told California Decoded the bill could change depending on the report's recommendations. The any-day-now release was on the lips and minds of lawmakers last week during the business org Silicon Valley Leadership Group's annual Sacramento advocacy day, said Peter Leroe-Muñoz, the group's general counsel and SVP of tech policy. 'The report from the governor's panel will be instructive,' Leroe-Muñoz told us, although he said not every lawmaker was waiting breathlessly for the big reveal. Invitees to the event included state Sens. Wiener, Dave Cortese, Angelique Ashby and Aisha Wahab as well as Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Marc Berman, Buffy Wicks, Ash Kalra and others. Legislators including Wicks, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and state Sen. Jerry McNerney are all carrying bills relating to AI and automation they have yet to fully elaborate on. Some legislators are certainly not waiting. Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's bills on AI copyright (more on that below) and automated decision-making systems, as well as Sen. McNerney's act to prevent automated systems from making hiring and firing decisions without human oversight are just a few examples. Freshman Assemblymember Maggy Krell also has a proposal aimed at preventing companies or individuals from blaming an AI system as a legal defense. Hers is the kind of bill that could be influenced by the report as a way of increasing the chances of avoiding the governor's veto pen. 'We want to make sure that if some company is benefiting from a product, that they are also responsible for the risks of that product,' Krell, a former federal prosecutor, told California Decoded. Krell is also the author of a spot bill that would require companies to say what data their AI models are trained on, similar to a measure introduced last year by then-Rep. Adam Schiff, which did not advance out of committee. Wiener's bill last year also created liability for AI companies that the tech industry, and ultimately the governor, found too broad and ultimately unpalatable. Whether bills like Krell's can morph to head off similar critiques in light of the forthcoming report will be a key area to watch. HAPPENING TODAY ALL DAY — Chipmaker Nvidia's GTC conference starts today in San Jose. ALL DAY — The Game Developers Conference also kicks off in downtown San Francisco today. Autonomous vehicles FULL SPEED AHEAD? Travelers flying in and out of San Francisco International Airport will soon see Waymo vehicles roving airport roads, although with human drivers behind the wheel. That change, which we first reported for POLITICO Pro subscribers on Friday, could reverberate across the state in the tug-of-war between autonomous vehicles and the labor movement in California. Waymo confirmed that the SFO permit doesn't allow its cars there to carry commercial goods. An unsigned and undated draft version of the proposal seen by POLITICO specifically highlighted commercial goods as being off the table. That may seem unnecessary for a mapping permit, but the carve-out has Teamsters union officials suddenly switching from trying to block Waymo's access to the airport to praising the expansion. 'It's an example of all parties getting to a reasonable place on implementation of this type of new technology,' said Peter Finn, Teamsters Joint Council 7 president, on the Waymo deal's exemption for moving commercial goods. SFO spokesman Doug Yakel declined to comment and said he expected an announcement from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's office on the permit. Lurie's office did not immediately comment. So why the change of heart on the labor side? Put simply, moving commercial goods — from food, liquor, packages and everything in between — is the Teamsters' bread and butter. They don't want autonomous vehicles within a country mile of their core business, and iron-clad language barring robot cars from moving things instead of people is what the union is after. It also is just the type of language that shows up in Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry's AB 33, the third-year-running version of a labor-backed bill to bar robot trucks from operating in the Teamsters' backyard. That bill prohibits delivering commercial goods — the magic words — directly to a residence or without a human operator on California highways. That covers everything from UPS and DHL delivery trucks to Safeway semis. Anyone who has been following this battle knows that Newsom vetoed the two previous versions of the bill that would have required human operators in autonomous trucks. That pitted labor and tech against each other. But commercial goods carve-outs could clear the road for the two foes to stay out of each others' lane and support the same measure, which could then lead to a further explosion of self-driving vehicles statewide. In the Courts WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? — Silicon Valley is ready to duke it out with Hollywood over an AI copyright bill that could sway the balance of power between creatives who make a living from their art and AI companies hungry for content to train their top models. AI proponents have fought with Hollywood before over content transparency and deepfakes. But Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's AB 412 — which would require generative AI developers to document and disclose any copyrighted works used to train their models — raises the stakes. Tech and industry groups say it would undermine fair-use rules and make it nearly impossible to train an AI model without facing a lawsuit. Leroe-Muñoz told us AB 412's vast scope puts it 'among the top bills' the Silicon Valley Leadership Group is watching this year. The same is true for Adam Eisgrau, policy director for the progressive tech lobby group Chamber of Progress, who authored a blog post trashing the bill late last week. 'Imagine if every copy of Sabrina Carpenter's newest song had to be accompanied by a list of every recording artist that ever inspired her,' Eisgrau wrote. 'By analogy … if Carpenter forgot to include just one name from the influences that shaped her, she could be on the hook for millions of dollars.' Hollywood writers, artists and actors (including actors' guild SAG-AFTRA) counter that existing transparency requirements don't fully prevent AI models from training on copyrighted works, like scripts and audio recordings, without reimbursing creators. Bauer-Kahan did make a slight concession ahead of AB 412's first committee hearing tomorrow: She agreed to take amendments that only put developers on the hook for disclosing copyrighted materials they know were used to train their AI model, according to committee analysis documents. Byte Sized — Robby Walker, a senior director at Apple, said delays to Siri's key features were embarrassing, as they struggle to catch up with industry peers (Bloomberg) — Dips in tech stock are not enticing investors (Bloomberg) — TikTok is spending big on ads in Washington, D.C. (POLITICO) Compiled by Nicole Norman Have a tip, event or autonomous vehicle goof to share? Do reach out: Emma Anderson, California tech editor; Chase DiFeliciantonio, AI and automation reporter; and Tyler Katzenberger, Sacramento tech reporter.
Politico
12-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
A tale of two tech cities
Available free through April 11, POLITICO Pro's Technology: California Decoded newsletter will explore how the Golden State is defining tech policy within its borders and beyond. QUICK FIX — Political stakes are high for the San Jose and San Francisco tech scenes. — Lobby group TechNet hires new top boss in California. — Industry group pans the push for social media warning labels. Welcome to California Decoded! Happy hump day. Send feedback, tips and story ideas to tkatzenberger@ and chasedf@ Driving the day ANALYSIS: BATTLE OF THE BAY — Mayors of two of the tech world's biggest cities are engaged in a tug-of-war to become the center of the AI universe that could also chart the course of their political futures. San Jose's Matt Mahan announced today his administration will dole out $200,000 to startups that put down roots in the South Bay city that bills itself as the Capital of Silicon Valley. San Francisco's Daniel Lurie trumpeted yesterday that his city will host next year's second edition of the HumanX AI conference, which was just headlined by former Vice President Kamala Harris in Las Vegas last weekend. 'We just want to get in front of the world's best entrepreneurs and technologists and share with them the benefits of being located in San Jose,' Mahan told California Decoded. There's more than tech dominance that's at stake for these two new, Democratic mayors: Touting a booming tech sector is key to pulling each city's downtown out of economic hangovers from the pandemic. Walking hand in hand with tech titans has proven to be an effective political maneuver as well, with the reelection of Donald Trump and CEOs from Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg having crucial access to the president's ear. Mahan is a former startup player halfway through his first term and Lurie is an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, who just secured an upset win over incumbent London Breed. Mahan and Lurie are taking different approaches: San Jose is steaming ahead on trying to attract startups. San Francisco may be the epicenter of AI hacker geekdom, home to OpenAI and Anthropic among others, but the city's top brass is squarely focused on bringing big companies and conferences to its shores. Mahan said San Jose will start taking applications today to receive the startup funding, which it plans to hand out in $50,000 and $25,000 increments, with a good chunk left over to target online ads at potential applicants (although it's all advertising, in a way). It's no coincidence that his office is launching its funding campaign the same day as the marquee San Francisco startup accelerator Y Combinator's demo day. Those are the kinds of early-stage startups San Jose hopes to entice with the money, although Mahan said he doesn't see bringing in more startups as a 'zero sum game between us and other Bay Area cities.' Ask Lurie's office what their plan is and they'll tell you they are frying bigger fish. The rookie mayor has focused less on AI startups so far, and more on working the phones to make sure some of the biggest AI players continue to call San Francisco home as he tries to combat negative headlines and Republican criticism of his city's empty downtown storefronts and open-air drug markets. His office has also ballyhooed the recent decision by Databricks, a maker of AI models, to anchor into a larger downtown headquarters, plus keep its Data + AI Summit — and notably the dollars it brings downtown — in San Francisco through 2030 after some pleading from the mayor. Lurie may be scoring bragging rights early in his term, but Mahan has been appealing directly to startups during his first two years in office. His office has been involved in the planned opening of a new AI startup accelerator from the South Bay outfit Plug & Play, with backing from PG&E in a vacant downtown building. San Jose also offers tax and other incentives for companies that set up shop downtown. Asked about burnishing the city's startup credentials, Lurie's office told California Decoded in a statement: 'The mayor is creating the conditions so that growing AI businesses and their workers WANT to be here.' The city has much to offer, 'so we are focused on making sure people feel safe, the streets are clean, and downtown is vibrant and exciting 24/7.' That lines up with Lurie's public safety first messaging, and tracks with what his predecessor would say when asked similar questions in the past. It's also very different from directly handing out cash like Mahan. But San Jose bears big-name credentials too: Nvidia's annual GTC conference is happening next week at its downtown convention center, not far from the headquarters of giants like Adobe and Zoom. Mahan said the city already has about $1 billion worth of venture capital-backed startups in the city's downtown core to build on, it's just a matter of getting the word out about the Valley of Heart's Delight. HAPPENING TODAY ALL DAY — Y Combinator's demo day in San Francisco, showcasing its current batch of startups. Influence and Industry FIRST IN DECODED: BIG TECH'S NEW GUY — Major industry group TechNet has officially named Robert Boykin as its next top lobbyist in California, Decoded can exclusively report today. Boykin will replace Dylan Hoffman as the group's executive director for California and the Southwest, setting him up as a go-to advocate for Big Tech on AI, social media, privacy and more in Sacramento. Boykin told us in an email that AI 'certainly rises to the top' of issues he's watching in California, given lawmakers have introduced at least two dozen bills on the topic this year. Data privacy, online content moderation, autonomous vehicles and 'access to high quality computer science' also rank high on his watchlist, he said. Boykin currently works as a legislative advocate for the California Association of Health Plans. He spent more than 10 years as an Assembly staffer, including a stint as former Democratic Assemblymember Jose Medina's chief of staff. Social media FIRST IN DECODED: NO LABELS — The Chamber of Progress opposes Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan's plan to slap 90-second, unskippable health warning labels on social media platforms, the progressive tech lobby group wrote in a letter obtained by Decoded. The letter, sent yesterday to the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, is a first look at Big Tech-aligned groups' strategy to fight Bauer-Kahan's AB 56 ahead of the bill's first hearing next Tuesday. 'Mandating intrusive, unremovable warning labels that cover a user's screen for at least 90 seconds multiple times per day is neither a balanced nor effective solution,' wrote Robert Singleton, senior policy director for the Chamber. 'Rather than providing meaningful support to families in managing social media use, this bill imposes unnecessary friction for all users.' Singleton went on to argue that current research doesn't support a 'direct causal link' between social media use and mental health issues. And social media has upsides, he added, like connecting LGBTQ+ kids and other marginalized youth with supportive communities. 'By restricting access to these platforms through a black box warning label, AB 56 could deny users the crucial benefits that social media can offer,' he wrote. Bauer-Kahan told us last month the 90-second pop-up gives 'readers at all levels enough time to digest' a message warning that social media has 'profound' mental health risks for children and teens. Her bill is backed by Common Sense Media, a youth online safety nonprofit, and comes after the former U.S. surgeon general advocated for such warnings. Privacy TICKETED — Japanese automaker Honda has agreed to pay a $632,500 fine after a stop-and-frisk from California's privacy cops, Tyler reported for POLITICO Pro subscribers this morning. It's the first time California's Privacy Protection Agency has fined a carmaker since announcing a review of data practices within the auto industry two years ago, according to CPPA spokesperson Megan White. The review is meant to examine how in-vehicle features like entertainment consoles, roadside assistance buttons and onboard cameras collect drivers' location data and personal information. The settlement agreement orders Honda's California-based North American subsidiary to simplify its submission process for data-sharing opt-out requests, among other under-the-hood tweaks, after the agency accused the company of flouting state consumer privacy rules. Byte Sized — A San Francisco Tesla showroom has been operating without proper permits for nearly a decade (San Francisco Chronicle) — Google DeepMind will debut two new models aimed at developing robotics (Bloomberg) — Britain's antitrust regulator says an investigation into the mobile browser market revealed concerns over Apple's policies for Safari (Reuters) Have a tip, event or example of AI bugging out to share? Do reach out: Emma Anderson, California tech editor; Chase DiFeliciantonio, AI and automation reporter; and Tyler Katzenberger, Sacramento tech reporter.
Politico
11-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
What Silicon Valley really wants from Sacramento
Available free through April 11, POLITICO Pro's Technology: California Decoded newsletter will explore how the Golden State is defining tech policy within its borders and beyond. QUICK FIX — A major tech business group says California must avoid being left in the dust on data centers. — Republican data bill sees path in key committee. — Rob Bonta cites Trump admin policies in data privacy crackdown. Welcome to California Decoded! Glad you're with us, this is your sign that Tuesday is half over. Send feedback, tips and story ideas to tkatzenberger@ and chasedf@ Driving the day FIRST IN DECODED: POWERED UP — Big, existential battles over AI safety are so last year: The next big fight in Sacramento is shaping up to be about the hardware, not the bits, that power the state's AI economy, according to a major tech business group. Cutting a legislative path toward building more energy-gobbling data centers in Silicon Valley and California is a major priority this session, said Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Ahmad Thomas, whose group wields significant sway in Sacramento with a membership roster that includes tech companies from Airbnb and Amazon to Zoom and Zoox. 'Data centers are huge,' Thomas told California Decoded ahead of his group's 'Advocacy Day' with Sacramento lawmakers and lobbyists today. The thinking goes that more data centers means more AI companies can take root and train the next generation of models. 'A lot of our focus is around the modernization of our infrastructure to allow for [the] tech to scale, and to scale here in Silicon Valley,' Thomas said. Thomas' group has also been in talks to merge with another major business organization, the Bay Area Council — a deal that if it goes through would throw major lobbying muscle behind a central priority for the tech industry. Thomas said he sees lifting limits on building new data centers as key to enticing big projects like OpenAI's massive Stargate effort to California. The San Francisco AI company recently announced the construction of its flagship data centers in Abilene, Texas. California is one of 16 states under consideration for the next phase of the $500 billion project announced by President Donald Trump, alongside OpenAI's Sam Altman and other tech luminaries in January. But there's a major catch: Data centers guzzle power and water at a prodigious rate, and building new ones could clash with California's relatively tight environmental regulations. OpenAI's Chris Lehane has said a Stargate campus would require at least 1 gigawatt of capacity — 10 times the upper limit to avoid the California Energy Commission's lengthy power plant licensing process, which can delay projects by months. 'We locked in place these arbitrary limits years ago, before the AI revolution was taking place, and it's just inflexible,' San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a data center proponent, recently told us. Last session, an effort backed by state Sen. Dave Cortese and SVLG that would have bumped the licensing limit up to 150 megawatts ran aground, in part over environmental concerns about the diesel generators that kick in when the power goes out. It doesn't look to be getting any easier for the data-center accelerationist crowd this year, though. One bill from Assemblymember Diane Papan would create energy and water efficiency standards for data centers, while Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan's AB 222 would require companies to be financially accountable for the power they use and annually report energy demand data to state regulators at the California Energy Commission. Bauer-Kahan told us she hasn't met with SVLG about her bill but has met with other industry groups, including the Data Center Coalition. She said those groups haven't taken issue with her proposal so far. It's not all stick from Sacramento. State Sen. Steve Padilla's SB 58 would give tax credits to data centers that use more green power and deploy water efficient systems. HAPPENING TODAY ALL DAY — Silicon Valley Leadership Group talks AI policy with state lawmakers and regulators during its annual 'Sacramento Advocacy Day,' hosted at Microsoft's Sacramento headquarters. Listed speakers include: State Sens. Scott Wiener, Cortese, Angelique Ashby and Aisha Wahab; Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Marc Berman, Buffy Wicks, Ash Kalra, Lori Wilson, Patrick Ahrens and Alex Lee. 6:30 p.m. PT — Ned Segal, former CFO of Twitter and now San Francisco's chief of housing and economic development, speaks at Manny's in San Francisco. IN DC — Tech leaders, including the likes of Amazon and Meta, will meet at the INCOMPAS policy summit today to talk AI, energy (read: data centers), broadband and more. Privacy FIRST IN DECODED: NOT DEAD YET — Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio has a shot at advancing legislation that would let Californians shield their personal information from foreign governments (*cough* China) — so long as he's willing to play nice in deep-blue California. 'I look at every bill with policy in mind. If it's a bill that I think is in the best interest of Californians, then it'll get a fair shot,' Bauer-Kahan, chair of the Assembly's key Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, told California Decoded. Gaining support from Bauer-Kahan and her committee is likely the first hurdle for DeMaio as he tries to pass AB 364, which as we scooped yesterday, would require businesses to obtain consent from California-based users before sharing or storing their data in foreign countries. That could prove an uphill battle in the Democratic-controlled Legislature given DeMaio's reputation as an outspoken conservative. But privacy and digital safety have often proven fertile ground for cross-party collaboration in California: For example, Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover last year successfully passed a law restricting student phone use in schools. Bauer-Kahan said she wants to keep the bipartisan vibes going, so long as DeMaio and other lawmakers work with committee staff and accept recommended amendments. 'We had less Republican [authors] in the last year than the year before, so it's getting harder. It was an election year, so maybe this year will be better,' she said. 'I'm optimistic.' LOVE, ROB — Attorney General Rob Bonta is hunting down companies that appear to be breaking California's privacy laws through location data as part of an investigative sweep aimed at protecting groups targeted by Trump administration policies. Bonta's office announced yesterday that it sent letters warning some advertising networks, app providers and data brokers that they may be violating the California Consumer Privacy Act, which gives users the right to opt out of sharing location data and other personal information like email addresses and phone numbers. His office said the issue is 'immediately and particularly relevant,' amid Trump's threats to carry out mass deportations and restrict access to gender-affirming care. 'This location data is deeply personal,' Bonta said in a press release. 'Given the federal assaults on immigrant communities, as well as gender-affirming healthcare and abortion, businesses must take the responsibility to protect location data seriously.' Bonta's office declined to identify organizations that received a letter, because the information is 'part of the investigative files of the Attorney General.' Byte Sized — Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna says Democrats should condemn vandalism at Tesla dealerships (X post) — OpenAI plans to double its workforce at newly opened San Francisco HQ (San Francisco Business Times) — Waymo is expanding its robotaxi service to parts of Silicon Valley (San Francisco Chronicle) — A new report finds two-thirds of Silicon Valley tech workers are foreign-born (The Mercury News) — HumanX conference to move from Las Vegas to San Francisco next year (Business Wire) Have a tip, event or data center pitch to share? Do reach out: Emma Anderson, California tech editor; Chase DiFeliciantonio, AI and automation reporter; and Tyler Katzenberger, Sacramento tech reporter.
