Gavin Newsom issues executive order to accelerate AI oversight and kill switch

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new executive order aimed at tightening oversight of artificial intelligence systems used by state vendors, the latest in a string of moves that inch closer to the concept of an AI “kill switch” without actually mandating one across the board. The order, Executive Order N-5-26, was signed on March 30, 2026, and requires AI vendors pursuing state contracts to affirm their safeguards against illegal content, bias, and civil rights violations. From veto to executive action To understand where Newsom is now, you have to rewind to September 29, 2024, when he vetoed Senate Bill 1047. That bill would have required large AI developers to build shutdown capabilities into models deemed to pose catastrophic risks, and it would have exposed those developers to legal liability for resulting harms. Newsom rejected SB 1047 on the grounds that it was too broad. His argument: the bill would punish innovation without meaningfully distinguishing between genuinely dangerous AI systems and benign ones. The March 2026 order on vendor safeguards was followed by another executive order on May 21, 2026, which mandated comprehensive assessments of AI’s impact on...