Newsom Orders Work on AI Kill Switch and Faster Oversight

Sep 19, 2026
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to accelerate independent AI oversight and develop recommendations for an emergency shutoff mechanism for frontier models.

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to accelerate independent oversight of AI companies and advance work on an AI kill switch, according to a state announcement. The order directs the Government Operations Agency to speed implementation of Senate Bill 813 and Assembly Bill 1405, which establish standards for independent verification organizations and AI auditors.

The agency will consult with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and convene experts to produce recommendations within two months. The group will consider requiring independent verification organizations inside frontier AI labs, verification of company safety reports and regular testing of emergency shutoff mechanisms.

The recommendations will also examine whether California should expand its definition of critical safety incidents to include cases in which control over an AI system is lost. Newsom also called for federal officials to adopt California’s AI rules as a national baseline.

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