OpenAI Backs California AI Bill Mandating Watermarking of Synthetic Content

OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content

ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30.

OpenAI Supports California AI Bill Requiring 'Watermarking' of Synthetic Content

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content

SAN FRANCISCO: ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on August 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by September 30.

OpenAI Agrees With New AI Bill Which Needs Watermarking For Images And Content

The AI giant is happy to watermark synthetic images and content SAN FRANCISCO: ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30.

OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content

That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including OpenAI, which has Microsoft as a backer. California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's legislative database, including measures to ensure all algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead. San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. With countries representing a third of the world's population having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role AI-generated content will play, and it has already been prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters. AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

OpenAI supports California bill requiring watermarks on AI content

OpenAI threw its support behind a California bill requiring tech companies to label AI-generated content, according to a letter from OpenAI's chief strategy officer viewed by Reuters. The bill is headed for a final vote in August. AB 3211 requires watermarks in the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos, and audio clips. Lots of AI companies already do this, but most people don't read metadata. AB 3211 also requires large online platforms, like Instagram or X, to label AI-generated content in a way average viewers can understand. A trade group representing OpenAI's largest investor, Microsoft, and other software makers, opposed AB 3211 in April, calling the bill "unworkable" and "overly burdensome" in a letter to California lawmakers. The endorsement comes a week after OpenAI opposed SB 1047, another California AI bill that's more widely criticized. However, OpenAI supports several federal bills that would regulate AI companies.

OpenAI supports California's AI-watermarking bill

OpenAI is all for a California law requiring invisible watermarks of AI-generated content. Credit: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg / Getty Images OpenAI has expressed its support for a California bill requiring AI-generated content to be labeled as such. According to Reuters, OpenAI sent a letter of support to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill, titled the California Provenance, Authenticity and Watermarking Standards Act (AB 3211). The legislation passed by the state Assembly vote would require AI companies to put an invisible watermark on all content made or "significantly modified" by their AI models. Next, the bill is up for vote at the state Senate and would go on to review by CA Governor Gavin Newsom if passed. The bill would also require AI companies to provide "watermark decoders" so that users can easily identify whether content is AI-generated or not. Image-generating models on the market vary in their levels of photorealism, protective guardrails, and copyright protections. DALL-E 3 is OpenAI's latest text-to-image model. As of February, images generated by the model on ChatGPT contain C2PA metadata, which provides the image's provenance. Similarly, Google has its own SynthID tool for watermarking images created by its model, Gemini. Grok-2, which Elon Musk's xAI company released, seems to have the least amount of restrictions since it can generate images of public figures and copyrighted works. Midjourney, one of the most advanced image models, is currently embroiled in a legal battle over copyright infringement. In the letter viewed by Reuters, OpenAI underscored the importance of transparency of the provenance of images and other AI-generated content. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," said OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon in the letter. The issue of AI-generated deepfakes and misinformation is especially significant with the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election. Already, AI-generated images of Kamala Harris speaking at a communist rally and Taylor Swift endorsing Donald Trump have circulated on social media.

OpenAI supports California bill requiring AI watermarking

Jason Kwon of OpenAI said that the requirement can help people avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content. OpenAI has expressed support for a California bill that will require tech companies to label AI-generated content, including watermarking content, as the US elections get closer. The bill, known as AB 3211, was introduced by Buffy Wicks, a lawmaker serving in the California State Assembly, earlier this year. It has already passed the state assembly in a 62-0 vote and is expected to be voted on in the state Senate before being sent to the governor for signing into law. OpenAI believes that transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking AI-generated content are especially important in an election year, the San Francisco start-up wrote to Wick in a letter seen by Reuters. The US elections are set to take place on the first Tuesday of November. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," wrote Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer at OpenAI. AB 3211 has been overshadowed in recent weeks by another California AI bill, SB 1047,which aims to ensure the safe development of AI systems by putting more responsibilities on AI developers. SB 1047 would force developers of large "frontier" AI models to take precautions such as safety testing, implementing safeguards to prevent misuse and post-deployment monitoring. The bill has previously come under fire from Y Combinator and a host of AI start-ups based in California because of concerns the new rules could stifle innovation and "inadvertently threaten the vibrancy of California's technology economy and undermine competition". In June, Y Combinator argued in a letter signed by more than 100 start-ups that the responsibility for the misuse of large language models should rest "with those who abuse these tools, not with the developers who create them". The bill passed through California's Appropriations Committee earlier this month with several changes suggested by tech companies including Anthropic - bringing it a step closer to becoming law. It has been criticised by a host of US politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, as well as OpenAI. In a letter sent to state senator Scott Wiener (who introduced SB 1047) earlier this month, Kwon argued that only a "clear federal framework" of AI regulations will help the US maintain its competitive advantage over rivals such as China. "The AI revolution is only just beginning, and California's unique status as the global leader in AI is fuelling the state's economic dynamism," Kwon wrote. "SB 1047 would threaten that growth, slow the pace of innovation, and lead California's world-class engineers and entrepreneurs to leave the state in search of greater opportunities elsewhere." Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft support California bill requiring watermarks on AI content | TechCrunch

OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft have thrown their support behind a California bill requiring tech companies to label AI-generated content, according to letters from the companies viewed by TechCrunch. The bill is headed for a final vote in August. AB 3211 requires watermarks in the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos and audio clips. Lots of AI companies already do this, but most people don't read metadata. AB 3211 also requires large online platforms, like Instagram or X, to label AI-generated content in a way average viewers can understand. OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft are part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which helped create C2PA metadata -- a widely used standard for marking AI-generated content. A trade group representing Adobe, Microsoft and the nation's largest software makers previously opposed AB 3211 in April, calling the bill "unworkable" and "overly burdensome" in a letter to California lawmakers. However, amendments to the bill appear to have changed their minds.

Report: OpenAI Supports California Bill Requiring Labeling of AI-Generated Content

OpenAI reportedly supports a California bill that would require tech companies to label artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content. The company said in a letter to the author of Assembly Bill (AB) 3211, Buffy Wicks, that it believes transparency around AI-generated content is especially important in an election year, Reuters reported Monday (Aug. 26). "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, per the report. OpenAI did not immediately reply to PYMNTS' request for comment. AB 3211 is a different bill than the more widely publicized AI bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1047, which OpenAI opposes, according to the report. AB 3211 passed the state assembly in a unanimous vote and is now set for a vote by the full state senate, the report said. If it is passed by the senate by Aug. 31, it would then be signed or vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom by Sept. 30. The bill is opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber), which said in an Aug. 16 announcement that AB3211 places "very prescriptive and technologically infeasible requirements on AI developers, large online platforms and camera/recording device manufacturers. "What this technology is currently capable of changes basically every month," CalChamber said in the announcement. "For example, just a couple months ago, there wasn't a program that can watermark text, making the bill's requirements to do so impossible to comply with. Currently, one company is seemingly closer to having that technology, but the technology is not yet fully reliable, raising serious competition concerns around entrenching market leaders." Google said in September that it would mandate election advertisers to disclose when their ads have been manipulated or created using AI tools. The policy is applicable to election advertisers across Google's platforms, expanding upon the additional levels of transparency for election ads the company has required for years. "This update builds on our existing transparency efforts -- it'll help further support responsible political advertising and provide voters with the information they need to make informed decisions," Google said at the time in a statement provided to PYMNTS.

OpenAI supports California bill aimed at identifying AI-generated content: report

Microsoft-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) OpenAI has come out in favor of a bill moving through the California state legislature, which is intended to mitigate the misuse of content generated by artificial intelligence. The bill, AB 3211, introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of District 14, has widespread support. It has already passed through the Assembly by a vote of 62-0. The state senate is expected to vote on the bill before the end of the month. The bill, dubbed the California Digital Content Provenance Standards, would require gen-AI providers to "apply provenance data to synthetic content produced or significantly modified by a generative AI system that the provider makes available, as those terms are defined, and to conduct adversarial testing exercises, as prescribed," according to a bill summary. OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, wrote a letter to Wicks supporting the bill, according to Reuters. "New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," Kwon said in the letter. The bill also requires large online platforms, such as social media sites, "capable of disseminating specified content to use labels to disclose, as specified, any machine-readable provenance data detected in synthetic content that is distributed on its platform." Although the tech industry remains mostly supportive of the above watermarking bill, which is meant to reduce the proliferation of AI deepfakes, OpenAI and others have taken issue with SB 1047, which passed in the state senate by a vote of 32-1 earlier this month. SB 1047, authored by State Senator Scott Wiener of District 11, would introduce broad changes to how AI is developed and deployed in California. It would "require that a developer, before beginning to initially train a covered model, as defined, comply with various requirements, including implementing the capability to promptly enact a full shutdown, as defined, and implement a written and separate safety and security protocol, as specified." The bill would give the California Attorney General authority to bring civil action against companies not deemed in compliance. It would also create a Board of Frontier Models within the Government Operations Agency to aid in regulation of the proposed bill. Businesses and organizations opposed to SB 1047 include, among many others, Andreesen Horowitz, Meta Platforms (META), UC Berkley and a plethora of AI startups. More on Microsoft Microsoft: This Is The Time To Buy Microsoft: Why Now Is A Good Time To Invest In The Shares Buy Microsoft To Hedge Against Google Antitrust Defeat Microsoft-backed OpenAI adds ex-Meta executive to head strategic initiatives Microsoft to hold cybersecurity summit next month after CrowdStrike outage