Last month, I reported that a handful of powerful regulators visited Y Combinator for a conversation about their philosophies and approaches to regulating the booming artificial intelligence industry. Among them: FTC Chair Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general in the U.S. Dept. of Justice's antitrust division.
California State Senator Scott Wiener also made an appearance to discuss his proposed legislation known as SB 1047, or the “Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models."
The bill is expected to reach the state assembly's appropriations committee on Thursday, a key step before the legislation moves forward for a full vote in the assembly.
There's no consensus across political or industry lines about whether Wiener's proposed legislation is a step in the right direction or if it might be an innovation killer.
San Francisco's mayoral candidates have weighed in on the bill, the SF Standard reported.
Bay Area Congressional leaders Ro Khanna and Zoe Lofgren have voiced concerns, the Bay Area News Group reported.
Even the so-called godfather and godmother of AI, George Hinton and Fei-Fei Li, are on opposite sides of the argument, the NYT reported.
Whether or not this particular piece of legislation advances, the issue will remain far from decided. Stay tuned …
Fresh Faces
After a string of high-profile departures and personnel changes, there are several newly elevated leaders within OpenAI who have more responsibilities and now more power. The Information takes a closer look at four of these new leaders: chief scientist Jakub Pachocki; head of post-training Barret Zoph; head of frontiers research Mark Chen; and head of safety systems Lilian Weng.
Funding rounds to know
Glean Technologies is reportedly trying to raise $250 million in fresh funding at a $4.5 billion valuation. The Palo Alto startup is developing AI-powered enterprise search software. The WSJ has more details.
DevRev, also in Palo Alto, raised $100 million in a Series A round that valued the startup at $1.15 billion. The company is developing customer management software. Reuters has more details.
San Francisco-based Guidewheel announced it closed $31 million in a Series B round. The startup is developing AI-powered software for factories.
Encord raised $30 million in a Series B round. The San Francisco-based startup is developing AI data development tools, TechCrunch reported.
Must reads
Meet Black Forest Labs, the startup powering Elon Musk’s unhinged AI image generator -TechCrunch
The Global Race to Control AI -NYT
Google’s antitrust defeat could shape AI markets -FT
Google’s AI Search Gives Sites Dire Choice: Share Data or Die -Bloomberg News
MIT researchers release a repository of AI risks -TechCrunch
The many, many signs that Kamala Harris’ rally crowds aren’t AI creations -Ars Technica
A nightly Waymo robotaxi parking lot honkfest is waking San Francisco neighbors -the Verge
What OpenAI’s Previous Talks with Character Say About Its M&A Strategy -the Information
OpenAI’s Altman Fuels Rumor Mill As Users Await New Releases -Bloomberg News
