Senator Wiener's proposal to establish safeguards for artificial intelligence frontier models builds upon California's existing framework for AI oversight, which currently requires state agencies to inventory high-risk automated decision systems and assess generative AI risks to critical infrastructure.

The bill aims to create new protective measures for AI frontier model development while expanding the state's capacity to utilize artificial intelligence technologies. These measures would complement existing regulations, which define AI as engineered systems that generate outputs affecting physical or virtual environments, and automated decision systems as computational processes that assist or replace human decision-making. The Department of Technology, which presently maintains an inventory of high-risk AI systems used by state agencies, would likely play a central role in implementing any new requirements.

The legislation may incorporate recommendations from the Joint California Policy Working Group on AI Frontier Models, established by the Governor to examine these issues. While the bill does not require new appropriations or establish specific enforcement mechanisms, it would add to the state's current AI governance structure, which includes oversight from the Government Operations Agency, Office of Data and Innovation, Department of Human Resources, and Office of Emergency Services.