What is the worst-case scenario for AI? California lawmakers want to know.

When it comes to AI, as California goes, so goes the nation. The biggest state in the US by population is also the central hub of AI innovation for the entire globe, home to 32 of the world’s top 50 AI companies. That size and influence have given the Golden State the weight to become a regulatory trailblazer, setting the tone for the rest of the country on environmental, labor, and consumer protection regulations — and more recently, AI as well. Now, following the dramatic defeat of a proposed federal moratorium on states regulating AI in July, California policymakers see a limited w