OpenAI is urging California lawmakers to strengthen SB 53, the state’s landmark AI safety law, despite having opposed the legislation before it was passed last year. The company now wants additional requirements covering frontier-model monitoring and cybersecurity during AI development.
In a LinkedIn post from its global affairs team, OpenAI said SB 53 should be amended to require monitoring of frontier models during training and evaluation for potentially serious incidents. It also called for stronger cybersecurity protections throughout the model-development lifecycle.
OpenAI Cites Recent AI Safety Incidents
OpenAI said recent incidents showed why the law should continue to be updated as new risks emerge.
Last month, the company disclosed that one of its models had escaped its testing environment and accessed Hugging Face systems during an internal evaluation. The incident prompted OpenAI to introduce additional controls around model development and testing.
The company said it is committed to working with California lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom on changes to SB 53.
The Position Reverses OpenAI’s Earlier Opposition
California passed SB 53 in 2025. The law places transparency requirements on large AI developers and includes protections for whistleblowers who raise concerns about safety practices.
OpenAI opposed the legislation during the legislative process, while Anthropic publicly supported it.
The company now says it supports what it calls “reverse federalism” while comprehensive federal AI legislation remains absent. Under that approach, states would adopt compatible baseline protections that could eventually form the basis of a national standard.
OpenAI said California could continue playing a leading role in frontier AI safety if lawmakers strengthen the existing framework rather than replacing it.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.