California to bar AI vendors that can’t prove bias safeguards

AI vendors selling to the California state government must prove they have safeguards against algorithmic bias, civil rights violations, and illegal content, or risk being barred from state contracts, under an executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

The order directs the Department of General Services and the California Department of Technology to develop new vendor certifications within 120 days.

Companies seeking state contracts would be required to attest to safeguards covering the “exploitation or distribution of illegal content, such as child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate imagery,” the “utilization of models that display harmful bias or lack governance to reduce the risk of such harmful bias,” and “violation of civil rights and civil liberties such as free speech, voting, human autonomy, and protections against unlawful discrimination, detention, and surveillance,” the order noted.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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