Newsom orders California to weigh a kill switch for AI models

single source· 1 articles · confidence: low · first seen 2026-09-18 17:04 UTC

What this means for you

Nothing to act on yet. This is a request for recommendations with a two-month deadline, not a rule: no scope, no enforcement mechanism and no definition of what a kill switch would cover. Watch the report — that is when there is something concrete to plan around.

California governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Friday directing the state to convene a group of experts to advise on oversight of frontier AI models, including whether to mandate a "kill switch" — a mechanism for shutting a model down. The group has two months to deliver recommendations. The order does not say which models would be covered, who would hold the switch, or how it would be enforced; the account is partial and no text of the order has been reproduced.

Key facts

  • ·Governor Gavin Newsom issued the executive order on Friday; the report was published on 18 September 2026 source
  • ·The order directs the state to convene a group of experts to produce recommendations source
  • ·The expert group must deliver its recommendations within two months source
  • ·One subject of the recommendations is a possible mandated "kill switch" for frontier models source
  • ·The Verge reports the order is part of Newsom positioning California to take the lead on AI oversight source

What the sources say

  • The Verge AI — Reports the executive order and its two-month expert review; no detail on scope or enforcement

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

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