California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday directing state agencies to investigate the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence that can generate text, images and other content.

The executive order paves the way for potential regulation around what is known as generative AI technology, which has already raised concerns about disinformation, plagiarism, bias and child safety. The governor and California lawmakers have so far been careful about regulating technology they may not fully understand and hindering business innovations that fuel the state’s economy.

“We recognize both the potential benefits and the risks these tools enable. We are neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the bright side,” Newsom said in a statement. “We are approaching this world-changing technology with clarity and humility.”

Tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Facebook parent company Meta, are trying to incorporate generative AI into their products

businesses,

like OpenAI, and release popular tools like ChatGPT. AI has the potential to transform several industries, including state government and politics.

The executive order outlines the steps government agencies can take to better understand AI. The order requires the California Department of Technology, the Office of Data and Innovation and other government agencies to investigate within 60 days the most important and beneficial ways for generative AI to be used by the state. The governor also directed agencies to look at potential AI risks to individuals, communities and state workers. They have until January 2024 to issue guidelines for the purchase, use and training required to use generative AI.

Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation within the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program, said the executive order was comprehensive and could influence the action of other states.

California has long been a trendsetter, and the governor’s executive order continues that tradition in AI, West said. If one big state makes a big move, it will force the tech companies to join in whether they want to or not.

Child safety groups such as

the

nonprofit organization Common Sense Media says they see the executive order as a first step, but

That

Lawmakers will need to pass legislation to combat the risks of AI, including child sexual abuse images. AI will exacerbate these security issues, says Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media.

“We have to put in major protection measures and guardrails and that has to be done in a legislative way,” he said.

The executive order comes before tech executives including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others are expected to head to Washington

DC

next week for an AI forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.).

Newsom has

earlier

signaled

for

that he is cautious about AI regulation. At a conference in Los Angeles in May, he said the biggest mistake politicians can make is to stand up for themselves without trying to understand it first. Newsom also participated in an AI roundtable in June with President Biden, whose administration met with tech executives and released a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights.

.”

Newsom’s office said the governor was not available for an interview. He told Bloomberg he thought a Pandora’s box was being opened with generative AI and that the state wants it to be “done in a safe way.

Peter Leroe-Muoz, general counsel and senior vice president of technology and innovation at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, said he was pleased the governor’s office has entered into discussions with technology companies and other interested parties. He says AI has the potential to make government work more efficient and effective and make services more accessible to Californians.

This executive order really shows that the governor is putting California in the driver’s seat as we chart the future of AI in America, he said.