Vinod Khosla says the authors of California’s recently vetoed AI bill, SB 1047, are ignorant of the real dangers of AI and unqualified to have an opinion on global national security issues. said. The comments about state Sen. Scott Wiener were made during an on-stage interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024.
“He is ignorant of the real dangers of national security issues,” Khosla said, referring to Sen. Weiner, who represents San Francisco in the California state legislature. “I’m a huge supporter of his work on things like housing and NIMBYism. He has so many supporters because these issues are local issues. This is a global national security issue. That’s the problem. He has no right to comment.”
SB 1047 was a highly controversial AI bill passed by the California State Legislature, but Governor Newsom vetoed it in the face of opposition from Silicon Valley, Nancy Pelosi, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The bill sought to hold AI laboratories accountable for the most extreme risks of their AI models, even if they were not operating the models in a dangerous manner.
Many in Silicon Valley, including Khosla, argued that SB1047 would discourage technology companies from releasing cutting-edge AI models in California, thereby reducing America’s competitiveness in the AI race. Khosla wrote an opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee in September arguing that the bill could have global implications for U.S. national security beyond the scope of California lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Weiner previously told TechCrunch that venture capitalists including Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator were running what he called a propaganda campaign against his bill. He argues that misinformation about the impact of SB 1047 and what the bill actually does has become rampant in recent months, and that self-serving investors have passed this misinformation on to startup founders and the media. accused of spreading the word.
Mr. Khosla went on to say that he would love to have a discussion with Mr. Weiner if he were here. Wiener is scheduled to speak about AI regulation at Disrupt on Wednesday.
