Kill Switch! Newsom Moves To Lasso AI With Oversight Executive Order; “We’re Not Waiting To Act”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order to fast track oversight and control of AI ASAP that could have big implications for Hollywood.

Projected as a move to step in where Donald Trump fears to go and respond to AI CEOs sudden change of heart about the rate of the technology‘s acceleration, the order aims to convene “a group of world-leading experts” in the next 60 days. Industry insiders tell me they have been in contact with Newsom’s office about making sure Tinseltown has a “significant presence” among those experts.

Regardless of who is asked to show up, a big part of that gathering is to draft “proposals under consideration include requiring independent third parties to write safety plans for frontier AI companies, as well as requiring companies to develop an emergency shutoff, or ‘kill switch,’ for frontier models.”

“The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American, especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation,” the outgoing governor and likely 2028 POTUS candidate said Friday. “We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late’ Newsom added as data centers and the dire possibilities of AI become core issues in this year’s midterms.

In the closing months of his two-term reign in Sacramento, Newsom has been on an AI spree of late, signing bills and initiatives to harness the powerful tech. “Today’s executive order takes these actions even further,” said the Governor’s office this morning, announcing the new executive order.

This morning, Newsom went on online to drop the news with a swipe at Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson for not passing “national legislation” to corral AI. The ambitious and fairly tech savvy Governor bluntly said when it comes to AI guardrails, “California wants to create the standards in this space.”

BREAKING: I just signed an EXECUTIVE ORDER to dramatically accelerate independent oversight of AI companies and advance the creation of an “AI kill switch.”

With Donald Trump and Congress failing to lead, California is stepping up to keep all Americans safe. pic.twitter.com/7ydkG0fdQM

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 18, 2026

Newsom’s statement today says: “Through the order, the Governor is directing the Government Operations Agency: to accelerate the implementation timelines for SB 813 and AB 1405, and, in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, to convene national experts to develop recommendations for potential changes to further strengthen state law to:

• Require frontier AI companies to embed a designated independent verification organization onsite in their labs to conduct regular audits and evaluations.
• Require that the AI safety frameworks, transparency reports, and risk assessments that frontier AI companies are required to file under state law are verified pursuant to standards deemed adequate by an independent verification organization.
• Advance the creation of a “kill switch” for frontier models, with the efficacy of the switch verified on an ongoing basis by an independent verification organization.
• Update definitions of critical safety incidents to include loss-of-control incidents such as the Hugging Face attack.”

For Hollywood, which has had an weary relationship with AI, its implications, its practical use, cost-saving hopes and copyright nightmares, the donor friendly Governor has proved a hedge of sorts against the Northern California-based techlords. At the same time, those very techlords like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have declared, with IPO self interest or not depending on your POV, it is time to slow down AI development with warnings the tech could escape the control of its masters.

In that vein, Newsom stated today: “We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action.” Having rebuilt his brand on trolling Trump and MAGA, the Democrat added: “While Washington abdicates its responsibility to protect Americans, California is building on the strongest AI regulatory framework in the nation. California has already built a national model, and our policy should be the national baseline.”

As Congress leaves DC to center on the midterms, Trump continues to insist that the last thing AI needs is regulation. In fact, as a series of proposed AI bills gather dust in committee, the former Apprentice host and buddy House Speaker Mike Jonhson say regulation would allow China to take the lead in AI. To that, AI leaders like OpenAI‘s Sam Altman and ex-Apple CEO Tim Cook have been invited to the state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jingping next week — where a AI sidebar is widely anticipated