Newsom Signs AI Worker Protections, Health Care and Deepfake Laws
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of AI bills that limit how employers can use automated systems, protect clinical judgment in health care, and target deepfake fraud. According to the governor's office, several of the worker measures are the first of their kind in the nation.
- Governor Newsom signed a package of AI bills covering workers, health care, transparency, deepfakes and gene synthesis.
- Employers cannot rely only on AI for disciplinary or termination decisions and must disclose when AI causes mass layoffs, relocations or terminations.
- Workplace surveillance tools are banned in workplace bathrooms, and lawyers cannot fully hand core legal work to AI.
- Clinical decision tool developers must take reasonable steps to reduce known or predictable bias.
- An expert group is due to deliver a guide on strengthening AI safety laws within two months, with proposals including a frontier model "kill switch".
New limits on AI in the workplace
The governor's office says the new legislation protects people in the workplace from the effects of artificial intelligence, automated technology and AI-powered workplace surveillance. It builds on an earlier executive order meant to prepare workers and businesses for potential AI disruption.
- Employers may not rely only on AI when making a disciplinary action or termination decision, so a real person must review these steps.
- Employers must disclose if a mass layoff, relocation or termination is caused by an AI system.
- Workplace surveillance tools are banned in workplace bathrooms.
- California public higher education institutions must create training for students, faculty and staff on AI training and procurement.
- Lawyers may not fully hand over core legal work, such as drafting briefs or providing legal judgment, to AI.
Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, commented on SB 947, SB 951, AB 1331 and AB 1883. She said that by signing these four first-in-the-nation bills, Newsom "has shown the country how we can begin to put guardrails on AI at work to ensure human oversight over this technology, limit surveillance, and put workers first."
Health care, transparency and deepfakes
In health care, the new rules ensure that doctors and licensed providers can use their own professional judgment when AI or other clinical decision tools are used in patient care. Developers of clinical decision tools must also take reasonable steps to reduce known or predictable bias in how these systems are used. The relevant bills include AB 1979 and SB 503.
On transparency, the laws prohibit deleting a digital watermark and allow access to metadata, which should make it easier to tell whether content was AI-generated or user-generated. The California AI Transparency Act is also strengthened to address evolving technology. Separately, public comments at local government meetings must come from real people, not AI bots.
To limit exploitation, California is updating civil and criminal laws to protect likeness rights and prevent false impersonation. The state also targets fraudsters who use AI deepfakes to steal, defraud or impersonate Californians, including by creating explicit content without consent.
One measure addresses biological risks. Gene synthesis companies must follow safety guidelines, verify who their customers are, and check what genetic material they send out for research on diseases such as Polio and Ebola. That bill is AB 1864.
The wider framework and what comes next
The signings follow earlier steps this year. The governor signed SB 813, which sets up a framework for certifying independent verification organizations that can assess AI systems and models for safety and risk, and AB 1405, which creates a state registry for AI auditors with standards for their independence, transparency and integrity. He then issued an executive order to speed up third-party oversight of safety and security risks in AI systems, as well as independent audits.
That order also convened a group of experts who are to provide, within two months, a guide for strengthening California's AI safety and security laws. Proposals under consideration include requiring independent third parties to write safety plans for frontier AI companies and requiring companies to develop an emergency shutoff, or "kill switch," for frontier models.
The office points to earlier milestones as well, including a 2023 executive order on generative AI and SB 53 in 2025, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act. According to the governor's office, SB 53 is the nation's first AI safety law. It requires frontier AI developers to publicly disclose safety frameworks, report specified critical safety incidents to the state, and protect whistleblowers who report serious risks.
For employers, developers of clinical tools, gene synthesis providers and companies producing AI-generated content, the signed bills point to new compliance duties in California. The governor's office also signed an executive order, which it says permanently declares that Artificial Intelligence will be called "Artificial Intelligence" in California.
