Anthropic endorses California's AI safety bill, SB 53 | TechCrunch

""While we believe that frontier AI safety is best addressed at the federal level instead of a patchwork of state regulations, powerful AI advancements won't wait for consensus in Washington." said Anthropic in a blog post. "The question isn't whether we need AI governance-it's whether we'll develop it thoughtfully today or reactively tomorrow. SB 53 offers a solid path toward the former.""

"If passed, SB 53 would require frontier AI model developers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI to develop safety frameworks, release public safety and security reports before deploying powerful AI models. The bill would also establish whistleblower protections to employees that come forward with safety concerns. The bill specifically focuses on limiting AI models from contributing to "catastrophic risks," which the bill defines as the death of at least 50 people or more than a billion dollars in damages. SB 53 focuses on the extreme side of AI risk - limiting AI models from being used to provide expert-level assistance in the creation of biological weapons, or being used in cyberattacks - rather than more near-term concerns like AI deepfakes or sycophancy."

Anthropic publicly endorsed California SB 53, supporting state-level transparency and safety requirements for frontier AI developers. SB 53 would require major model labs to design safety frameworks and publish safety and security reports before deploying high-capability systems. The bill would create whistleblower protections for employees who raise safety concerns. SB 53 targets extreme, catastrophic risks—defined as at least 50 deaths or over one billion dollars in damages—and seeks to prevent expert-level assistance in biological weapons development and AI-enabled cyberattacks. The bill has faced industry pushback, awaits a final Senate vote, and has not yet received a response from the governor.

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