OpenAI backs California artificial intelligence bill requiring synthetic content to be “watermarked” by Reuters

By Anna Tong

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – ChatGPT developer OpenAI is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates.

The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which forces AI developers to conduct safety tests on some of their own designs.

That bill faced backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft (NASDAQ: ) as its backer.

California lawmakers have attempted to introduce 65 AI-related bills this legislative season, according to the state’s legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and to protect the intellectual property of to people who died from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead.

San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and provenance requirements such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter to California State Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks , who was the author of the bill.

With countries accounting for a third of the world’s population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already featured prominently in some elections, such as in Indonesia.

“New technologies and standards can help people understand the origin of the content they find online and avoid confusion between human-generated content and photorealistic AI-generated content,” Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, wrote in the letter, which reviewed by Reuters.

AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a vote of 62-0. Earlier this month, it was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If approved by the end of the Aug. 31 legislative session, it would go to Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30.