OpenAI and kids' safety advocates team up on California ballot measure
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OpenAI and Common Sense Media are joining forces for a California ballot initiative meant to protect kids from AI and chatbots.
Why it matters: AI companies are catching a lot of heat from regulators and parents who are demanding accountability for how chatbots are interacting with minors.
- Common Sense Media and OpenAI had competing measures that the new Parents & Kids Safe AI Act consolidates.
What's inside: The ballot initiative would require age assurance and ban targeted advertising as well as sharing kids' data without parental consent.
- Safeguards would be required to protect kids and teens from harmful AI content, such as promotion of self harm or sexually explicit acts.
- Companies would have to undergo independent audits and report them to the California attorney general.
The enforcement mechanism changed from Common Sense's original ballot measure, which included a private right of action.
- The new measure with OpenAI would hold companies accountable through the AG and financial penalties.
What they're saying: "We wrote this initiative to protect kids, and we welcome OpenAI's full support," Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James Steyer said in a statement.
- "Rather than confuse voters with competing measures, we're working together to enact strong protections for kids, teens, and families."
- "This is an initiative in California but I our aspiration is that this will not just be in California. This can be a model for other states," OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said in a call with reporters Friday.
The state legislature is also expected to come out "very soon" with a package comparable to the revised ballot initiative, Steyer said.
- "In an ideal world, they will pass this kind of legislation and on an urgent basis, on a fast track basis, and that would save us a lot of money from running a ballot initiative," Steyer said.
Catch up quick: This is not the first time the two unlikely bedfellows have teamed up.
- Last year, Common Sense and OpenAI partnered to create AI guidelines and education materials.
What's next: Signature gathering to qualify for the ballot is likely to start early next month, Lehane said.
Disclosure: Axios and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI to access part of Axios' story archives while helping fund the launch of Axios into four local cities and providing some AI tools. Axios has editorial independence.
