OpenAI, Microsoft, and Adobe publicly support AB-3211, a bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in California.
Watermarks must be added to the metadata of photos, videos and audio recordings that were produced or significantly modified by generative AI systems, according to the legislation.
The bill would also require large social media platforms, such as X and Instagram, to apply “easy-to-understand” labels to content they upload that users can view by clicking on it. Visual labels should be applied to audio clips and music videos.
OpenAI expressed its support in a letter to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, seen by Reuters. Adobe and Microsoft also backed the bill in similar letters seen by TechCrunch.
“New technologies and standards can help people understand the origin of content they encounter online and avoid confusion between human-generated content and photorealistic AI-generated content,” OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon wrote in his letter, according to Reuters.
Kwon’s letter also highlighted that transparency and requirements around provenance are especially important in an election year, as compelling synthetic content could be generated to influence votes. For example, AI-generated images of Taylor Swift fans supporting Donald Trump circulated on social media in early August.
The state Assembly and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved AB-3211. The state Senate will vote next before it is sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign or veto before the end of September.
TechRepublic has reached out to OpenAI, Microsoft, and Adobe for comment.
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Advocacy group criticizes the bill
Microsoft and Adobe are part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authority, an industry group that develops standards for verifying AI-generated content. The group helped create C2PA Metadata, a framework for incorporating verifiable metadata into digital content that DALL-E 3 uses.
However, the BSA, a software industry advocacy group that includes Microsoft and Adobe, opposed AB-3211 in a letter to the California Assembly's Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee in April. It took issue with:
- The breadth of content that should be watermarked.
- The requirement to provide tools to verify watermarks.
- The “impractical” reporting and notification system it proposes.
Lawmakers have since made several amendments to the bill, which appear to have allayed companies' concerns.
California juggles multiple AI-related bills
AB-3211 is separate from SB-1047, California’s controversial Artificial Intelligence Act.
SB-1047 aims to prevent AI models from causing large-scale harm to humanity or financial loss by imposing strict safety requirements on developers. Earlier this month, California’s Appropriations Committee approved SB-1047, but it still needs to be approved by the state Assembly and Senate before becoming law.
Much of Silicon Valley, including OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Hugging Face, have publicly criticized SB-1047. But earlier this week, Elon Musk took to X to express that he thinks the bill should pass. He posted: “For over 20 years, I have advocated for the regulation of AI, just as we regulate any product or technology that is a potential risk to the public.”
Two former OpenAI employees also wrote a letter to Newsom criticizing their former employer for opposing SB-1047.
“OpenAI objects to even the extremely lax requirements of SB1047, most of which OpenAI claims to comply with voluntarily, raising questions about the robustness of those commitments,” they wrote. OpenAI disagrees with the “mischaracterization of researchers” [their] position,” according to Business Insider
AB-3211 and SB-1047 are just two of at least 65 AI-related bills that lawmakers are looking to introduce in California this year, aiming to balance technological advancement with consumer protection.
