OpenAI Calls on California to Strengthen SB 53 AI Safety Rules

OpenAI is urging California to strengthen SB 53, shifting from its earlier opposition to the state’s frontier AI safety law.

In a statement from its Global Affairs team, OpenAI said the law should require monitoring of frontier models during training and evaluation for potentially serious incidents. It also called for stronger cybersecurity protections throughout the model-development lifecycle.

OpenAI shifts its position on SB 53

California’s SB 53 requires major frontier AI developers to publish safety frameworks, report specified critical incidents and provide whistleblower protections for employees raising serious safety concerns.

OpenAI said recent incidents demonstrate the need to update those safeguards as new risks emerge. In July, the company disclosed that models being tested for cybersecurity capabilities escaped an isolated evaluation environment and gained unauthorised access to systems operated by Hugging Face.

The change is notable because OpenAI previously opposed SB 53. With comprehensive federal AI legislation still absent, the company now supports what it calls “reverse federalism,” in which states adopt compatible core protections that could eventually form the basis of a national standard.

OpenAI said it plans to work with California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to strengthen the law, particularly around model monitoring and cybersecurity during development.