WHEREAS the State of California is a global leader in innovation, research,
development, human capital, and entrepreneurship; and
WHEREAS Generative Artificial Intelligence ("GenAI") represents a
significant leap forward in technology, by generating novel text, images, and
other content, which will transform the way that the State and the world
conduct business and serve the public; and
WHEREAS GenAI has the potential to catalyze innovation and the rapid
development of a wide range of benefits for Californians and the California
economy, such as advances in medicine, wildfire forecasting and prevention,
and climate science, and to push the bounds of human creativity and
capacity; and
WHEREAS California is leading the world in GenAI innovation and research,
and is home to 35 of the world's top 50 Artificial Intelligence ("Al") companies;
and
WHEREAS San Francisco and San Jose are dominating this technological
revolution, accounting for a quarter of all Al patents, conference papers, and
companies globally; and
WHEREAS the State of California endeavors to continue leading the world
in the responsible development, adoption, and implementation of new
technologies for the benefit of all Californians and the California economy; and
WHEREAS GenAI can enhance human potential and creativity but must
be deployed and regulated carefully to mitigate and guard against a new
generation of risks; and
WHEREAS the State of California is committed to accuracy, reliability, and
ethical outcomes when adopting GenAI technology, engaging and supporting
historically vulnerable and marginalized communities, and serving its residents,
workers, and businesses in a transparent, engaged, and equitable way; and
WHEREAS the State of California seeks to realize the potential benefits of
GenAI for the good of all California residents, through the development and
deployment of GenAI tools that improve the equitable and timely delivery of
services, while balancing the benefits and risks of these new technologies; and
WHEREAS the California state workforce is vital to California's continued
prosperity and the State seeks to harness the potential of GenAI for the benefit
of the state government workforce; and
WHEREAS California is home to the University of California, Berkeley,
College of Computing, Data Science, and Society and Stanford University's
Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, which are world-leading
research institutions in GenAI; and
WHEREAS the location of these institutions in California provides a unique
opportunity for academic research and government collaboration; and
WHEREAS GenAI development is advancing and accelerating at an
exponential pace; and
WHEREAS the unprecedented speed of innovation and deployment of
GenAI technologies necessitates measured guardrails to protect against
potential risks or malicious uses, including but not limited to, bioterrorism,
cyberattacks, disinformation, deception, 1 and discrimination or bias;2 and
WHEREAS the promise of GenAI requires the creation of a risk-safety
ecosystem and the investment of private companies and research institutions to
foster talent dedicated to trust and safety in these new frontiers; and
WHEREAS research institutions face significant barriers in accessing the vast
amounts of computing power necessary to use GenAI for research and
education and there is a need for a public-private effort to overcome such
barriers; and
WHEREAS thoughtful, responsive governance at the beginning of a
technology's lifecycle can maximize equitable distribution of the benefits,
minimize adverse impacts and abuse by bad actors, and reduce barriers to
entry into emerging markets; and
WHEREAS the development of GenAI will necessitate united governance
on issues of consumer data, financial services, healthcare, and innumerable
other areas critical to our society, and my administration looks forward to
engaging with the Legislature in furtherance of this aim; and
WHEREAS California is the most populous, diverse state in the nation and a
global technology leader uniquely situated to lead the world in responsibly
developing, implementing, and governing GenAI, by combining the strengths of
California's world-class tech industry, universities, economy, and workforce.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California,
in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and
statutes of the State of California, do hereby issue the following Order to
become effective immediately:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1) Within 60 days of issuance of this Order, the Government Operations
Agency, the California Department of Technology, the Office of Data
and Innovation, and the Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development, in collaboration with other State agencies and
departments and their workforce, shall draft a report to the Governor
examining the most significant, potentially beneficial use cases for
deployment of GenAI tools by the State. The report shall also explain
the potential risks to individuals, communities, and government and
state government workers, with a focus on high-risk use cases, such as
where GenAI is used to make a consequential decision affecting
access to essential goods and services. Additionally, the report shall
include but not be limited to: risks stemming from bad actors and
insufficiently guarded governmental systems, unintended or emergent
effects, and potential risks toward democratic and legal processes,
public health and safety, and the economy. The report shall be
regularly assessed for any significant developments or necessary
updates and as appropriate, be done in consultation with civil society,
academia, industry experts, and the state government workforce or
organizations that represent state government employees.
2) No later than March 2024, the California Cybersecurity Integration
Center and the California State Threat Assessment Center, both
established within the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and
inclusive of the California Department of Technology, the California
Military Department, and the California Highway Patrol, shall perform a
joint risk analysis of potential threats to and vulnerabilities of California's
critical energy infrastructure by the use of GenAI, including those which
could lead to mass casualty events and environmental emergencies,
and develop, in consultation with external experts as appropriate from
civil society, academia, and industry, a strategy to assess similar
potential threats to other critical infrastructure. Once this analysis is
completed, these agencies shall provide a classified briefing to the
Governor and, where appropriate and without divulging classified
information, make public recommendations for further administrative
actions and/or collaboration with the Legislature to guard against these
potential threats and vulnerabilities. These recommendations shall
address how to ensure systems are regularly tested and monitored to
detect and avoid unintended behavior, and how to ensure they
remain under effective human control. At a cadence deemed
appropriate by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, the
analysis and public recommendations should be updated to reflect
changes to the technology, its applications, and risk management
processes and learnings.
3) To ensure State government fosters a safe and responsible innovation
ecosystem that puts Al systems and tools to the best uses for
Californians:
a. By January 2024, the Government Operations Agency, the
California Department of General Services, the California
Department of Technology, and the California Cybersecurity
Integration Center, shall issue general guidelines for public sector
procurement, uses, and required trainings for use of GenAI,
including for high-risk scenarios such as for consequential
decisions affecting access to essential goods and services. The
guidelines should build on guidance from the White House's
Blueprint for an Al Bill of Rights and the National Institute for
Science & Technology's Al Risk Management Framework, and
shall address safety, algorithmic discrimination, data privacy,
and notice of when materials are generated by GenAI. The
Government Operations Agency shall engage and consult with
the state government workforce or organizations that represent
state government employees, and industry experts, including but
not limited to, trust and safety experts, academic researchers,
and research institutions, in developing these guidelines. The
Government Operations Agency, the California Department of
General Services, the California Department of Technology, and
the California Cybersecurity Integration Center shall thereafter
evaluate at a cadence they deem appropriate any need to
revise the guidelines and establish a consultative process by
which to do so with civil society, academia, industry experts, and
the state government workforce or organizations that represent
state government employees. Nothing in this Order shall be
construed to allow the application of state funds by localities in
the procurement of GenAI technologies. 
b. By July 2024, the Government Operations Agency, the California
Department of Technology, and the Office of Data and
Innovation, in consultation with other State agencies and
departments, shall develop guidelines for State agencies and
departments to analyze the impact that adopting a GenAI tool
may have on vulnerable communities, including criteria to
evaluate equitable outcomes in deployment and
implementation of high-risk use cases. These guidelines and
criteria shall inform whether and how a State agency or
department deploys a particular GenAI tool. The Government
Operations Agency shall engage and consult with the state
government workforce or organizations that represent state
government employees, and industry experts, including but not
limited to, trust and safety experts, academic researchers, and
research institutions, in developing these guidelines. The
Government Operations Agency, the California Department of
Technology, and the Office of Data and Innovation shall
thereafter evaluate at a cadence they deem appropriate any
need to revise the guidelines and criteria and establish a
consultative process by which to do so with civil society,
academia, industry experts, and the state government
workforce or organizations that represent state government
employees.  
c. By January 2025, the Government Operations Agency, the
California Department of General Services, and the California
Department of Technology shall update the State's project
approval, procurement, and contract terms, incorporating
analysis and feedback obtained through the processes outlined
in 3.a. and 3.b. 
d. In order to assist the Government Operations Agency and the
California Department of Technology in these efforts, all
agencies and departments subject to my authority shall conduct
and submit an inventory of all current high-risk uses of GenAI 
e. State agencies and departments subject to my authority shall
consider procurement and enterprise use opportunities where
GenAI can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility,
and equity of government operations consistent with the
Government Operations Agency, the California Department of
General Services, and the California Department of
Technology's guidelines for public sector GenAI procurement
f. By March 2024, the California Department of Technology shall
establish the infrastructure to conduct pilots of GenAI projects,
including California Department of Technology approved
environments, or "sandboxes," to test such projects. These
environments will be available to State agencies and
departments to help evaluate GenAI tools and services, to
further safe, ethical, and responsible implementations, and to
inform decisions to use GenAI, consistent with state guidelines. 
g. By July 2024, a ll state agencies under my authority shall consider
pilot projects of GenAI applications, in consultation with the state
workforce or organizations that represent state government
employees, and experts as appropriate from civil society,
academia, and industry. Under a controlled setting, pilots shall
measure 1) how GenAI can improve Californians' experience
with and access to government services, and 2) how GenAI can
support state employees in the performance of their duties in
addition to any domain-specific impacts to be measured by the
agency. 

4) The Government Operations Agency, the California Department of
Human Resources, the California Department of General Services, the
California Department of Technology, the Office of Data and
Innovation, and the California Cybersecurity Integration Center, shall
engage with the Legislature and relevant stakeholders, including
historically vulnerable and marginalized communities, and organizations
that represent state government employees, in the development of any
guidelines, criteria, reports, and/or training as directed by this Order. 
5) State agencies and departments subject to my authority shall support
California's state government workforce and prepare for the next
generation of skills needed to thrive in the GenAI economy by: 
a. No later than July 2024, the Government Operations Agency,
the California Department of Technology, the California
Department of Human Resources, and the Labor and Workforce
Development Agency shall make available trainings for state
government worker use of state-approved GenAI tools to
achieve equitable outcomes, and to identity and mitigate
potential output inaccuracies, fabricated text, hallucinations,
and biases of GenAI, while enforcing public privacy and
applicable state laws and policies. Where appropriate, the
California Department of Technology and the California
Department of Human Resources shall collaborate with the state
government workforce or organizations that represent state
government employees, and industry experts, on developing
and providing training. 
b. No later than January 1, 2025, the Government Operations
Agency, the California Department of Human Resources, and
the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, in consultation
with the state government workforce or organizations that
represent state government employees, shall establish criteria to
evaluate the impact of GenAI to the state government
workforce, and provide guidelines on how State agencies and
departments can support state government employees to use
these tools effectively and respond to these technological
advancements. 

6) The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, in
consultation with the Government Operations Agency, is directed to
pursue a formal partnership with the University of California, Berkeley,
College of Computing, Data Science, and Society and Stanford
University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to
consider and evaluate the impacts of GenAI on California and what
efforts the State should undertake to advance its leadership in this
industry. As part of this effort, beginning in the fall of 2023, those
agencies are directed to work with the University of California, Berkeley,
College of Computing, Data Science, and Society and Stanford
University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to
develop and host a joint California-specific summit in 2024, to engage
in meaningful discussions and thought partnership about the impacts of
GenAI on California and its workforce and how all stakeholders can
support growth in a manner that safeguards Californians. 

7) Legal counsel for all State agencies, departments, and boards subject
to my authority shall consider and periodically evaluate for any
potential impact of GenAI on regulatory issues under the respective
agency, department, or board's authority and recommend necessary
updates, where appropriate, as a result of this evolving technology. 
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be
filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and
notice be given of this Order.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of
California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other
person. 