OpenAI now says SB 53 should be strengthened, a reversal from its earlier opposition to the California AI safety bill.
OpenAI is publicly calling on California to strengthen SB 53, the state's AI safety bill, after previously fighting against it. The reversal comes amid growing scrutiny of frontier labs' safety practices, including a separate study finding that leading labs have few documented plans for containing a rogue model.
The timing suggests OpenAI is trying to get ahead of federal or multi-state regulation by shaping state-level rules it can live with, rather than facing a patchwork it can't control.
When the industry's most influential lab flips from opposing to strengthening safety legislation, it signals regulation is coming regardless — and companies that shape the rules early get a seat at the table others won't. Operators building on frontier models should watch SB 53 as a preview of compliance requirements likely to spread nationally.
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