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Newsom vetoes bill to establish first-in-nation AI safety regulations in California

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Newsom vetoes bill to establish first-in-nation AI safety regulations in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Sunday vetoed a bill to create safety measures for large artificial intelligence models, which would have been the first such law in the nation.

The governor’s veto delivers a major setback to attempts to create guardrails around AI and its rapid evolution with little oversight, according to The Associated Press. The legislation faced staunch opposition from startups, tech giants and several Democratic lawmakers.

Newsom said earlier this month at Dreamforce, an annual conference hosted by software giant Salesforce, that California must lead in regulating AI as the federal government has failed to put safety measures in place, but that the proposal “can have a chilling effect on the industry.”

S.B. 1047, the governor said, could have hurt the homegrown industry by setting up strict requirements.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to create safety measures for large artificial intelligence models in the Golden State. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

“While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data,” Newsom said in a statement. “Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.”

Newsom announced instead that the state will partner with several industry experts to develop safety measures for powerful AI models.

S.B. 1047 would have required companies to test their models and publicly disclose their safety protocols to prevent the models from being manipulated for harmful purposes, such as, for example, wiping out the state’s electric grid or helping to build chemical weapons, scenarios that experts say could be possible in the future as the industry continues to rapidly evolve.

The legislation also would have provided whistleblower protection to industry workers.

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Democratic state Sen. Scott Weiner, who authored the bill, said the veto was “a setback for everyone who believes in oversight of massive corporations that are making critical decisions that affect the safety and the welfare of the public and the future of the planet.”

“The companies developing advanced AI systems acknowledge that the risks these models present to the public are real and rapidly increasing,” he said in a statement. “While the large AI labs have made admirable commitments to monitor and mitigate these risks, the truth is that voluntary commitments from industry are not enforceable and rarely work out well for the public.”

Wiener said the debate around the bill has helped put a spotlight on the issue of AI safety, and that he would continue pushing to advance safety measures around the technology.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk supported the measure.

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Newsom announced that, rather than adopt the legislation, the state will partner with several industry experts to develop safety measures for powerful AI models. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

The proposal is one of several bills passed by the state Legislature this year seeking to regulate AI, combat deepfakes and protect workers. State lawmakers said California must take actions this year, pointing to the results of failing to rein in social media companies when they might have had an opportunity.

Supporters of the bill said it could have presented some transparency and accountability around large-scale AI models, as developers and experts say they still do not have a full understanding of how AI models behave.

The bill sought to address systems that require a high level of computing power and more than $100 million to build. No current AI models have met that criteria, but some experts say that could change within the next year.

“This is because of the massive investment scale-up within the industry,” Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who stepped down earlier this year over what he described as the company’s disregard for AI risks, told The Associated Press. “This is a crazy amount of power to have any private company control unaccountably, and it’s also incredibly risky.”

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The U.S. is behind Europe in regulating the growing technology that is raising concerns about job loss, misinformation, invasions of privacy and automation bias, supporters of the measure said. The California bill was not as comprehensive as regulations in Europe, but the supporters say it would have been a step in the right direction.

Last year, several leading AI companies voluntarily agreed to follow safeguards set by the White House, which include testing and sharing information about their models. The California bill, according to its supporters, would have required AI developers to follow requirements similar to those safeguards.

But critics of the measure argued that it would harm tech and stifle innovation in the Golden State. The proposal would have discouraged AI developers from investing in large models or sharing open-source software, according to the critics, which include U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Two other AI proposals, which also faced opposition from the tech industry, did not pass ahead of a legislative deadline last month. The bills would have required AI developers to label AI-generated content and prohibit discrimination by AI tools used to make employment decisions.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener said the debate around the bill has helped put a spotlight on the issue of AI safety. (Scott Wiener )

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California lawmakers are still considering new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices.

The governor previously said he wanted to protect the state’s status as a global leader in AI, citing that 32 of the world’s top 50 AI companies are in the Golden State.

Newsom has said California is an early adopter of AI, as the state could deploy generative AI tools in the near future to combat highway congestion, provide tax guidance and streamline homelessness programs.

Earlier this month, Newsom signed some of the strictest laws in the country to fight against election deepfakes and adopt measures to protect Hollywood workers from unauthorized AI use.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Oregon

Recall issued for organic ice cream sold in Oregon over metal concerns

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Recall issued for organic ice cream sold in Oregon over metal concerns


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The Food and Drug Administration announced that Organic ice cream sold in Oregon is being recalled over concerns that the products could contain metal fragments.

California-based Straus Family Creamery issued a voluntary recall on May 14 for select flavors of its Organic Super Premium Ice Cream after identifying the possible contamination issue.

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The recalled products were distributed to stores in Oregon and 16 other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

Which flavors are being recalled?

Affected flavors include vanilla bean, strawberry, Dutch chocolate, mint chip and cookie dough in multiple container sizes.

The recalled ice cream can be identified by best-by dates printed on the bottom of the containers. They include:

  • Ice Cream Vanilla Bean
    • Container Size: Pint
    • Best By Date: December 23, 2026; December 28, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10030-6
  • Ice Cream Strawberry
    • Container Size: Quart
    • Best By Date: December 24, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10097-9
  • Ice Cream Strawberry
    • Container Size: Pint
    • Best By Date: December 25, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10095-5
  • Ice Cream Cookie Dough
    • Container Size: Pint
    • Best By Date: December 26, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10104-4
  • Ice Cream Dutch Chocolate
    • Container Size: Quart
    • Best By Date: December 27, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10012-2
  • Ice Cream Mint Chip
    • Container Size: Pint
    • Best By Date: December 30, 2026
    • UPC: 7-84830-10050-4

What should Oregonian do with their recalled ice cream?

Oregon consumers are urged not to eat the recalled ice cream. The company said the products should not be returned to the store but instead should be thrown away. Customers can then fill out a form with Straus Family Creamery for a replacement voucher by visiting strausfamilycreamery.com/recall/.

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For questions, Oregonians can contact Straus Family Creamery at support@strausmilk.com or 1-707-776-2887.

Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval is a lifelong Oregonian who covers trending news, entertainment, food and outdoors. She can be reached at GSandoval@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.



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Utah

‘Preserving the art of Utah culture’: Utah-artist museum opens in Salt Lake City

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‘Preserving the art of Utah culture’: Utah-artist museum opens in Salt Lake City


SALT LAKE CITY — A new art museum located in the historic B’nai Israel Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, dedicated to preserving Utah culture and providing a platform for Utah artists, is opening.

The Salt Lake Art Museum, 249 S. 400 East, aims to highlight both historic and contemporary Utah artists while also promoting thoughtful conversations on modern topics. It is the first new art museum to open in the city in more than 40 years.

“Opening the Salt Lake Art Museum is a defining moment for our state’s cultural landscape,” said Chris Jensen, museum executive director.

While the official grand opening of the museum isn’t until July 24, it has already begun hosting events and programming, including an interactive “Make Your Mark” installation where community members can trace their silhouettes onto the walls.

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“The project serves as both an introduction to the museum and a living time capsule capturing the voices and identities of the community in the weeks leading up to the grand opening,” a statement from the museum said.

People participate in the “Make Your Mark” installation at the new Salt Lake Art Museum in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Salt Lake Art Museum)

The Salt Lake Art Museum was founded by Micah Christensen, a distinguished art historian based in Salt Lake City. About a year ago, Christensen contacted Jensen, who has a background in nonprofits and cultural and historical preservation, to discuss purchasing the B’nai Israel Temple to create a museum.

The focus of the museum would be to elevate Utah artists, Utah art collections and art created in Utah.

“Utah is home to an incredible number of artists, yet we’ve long lacked a dedicated space to fully celebrate their work. This museum changes that. It’s a place where Utah artists are centered, their stories are elevated and our community can come together to experience the power of art,” Jensen said.

The museum began its programming with a Utah Master Series, which celebrates Utah’s most influential visual artists and recognizes their contributions to the state’s cultural legacy.

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“It’s almost like a hall of fame of Utah artists,” Jensen explained.

The first three artists to be part of the exhibition were Galina Perova, Stanley Wanlass and Ben Hammond. Each artist had a dedicated night at the museum, where their work was displayed and they discussed their art-making process and the arts in Utah.

One of the museum’s opening exhibitions will be on Albert Bierstadt, a famous painter in the late 1800s who painted the American West. He spent three weeks painting in Utah and the museum will display 25 of his approximately 30 Utah landscapes he created.

To make the gallery extra special, the museum will have modern pictures of the same landscapes alongside each painting.

“It’s really a tale of how human interaction changes landscape and how our landscapes in Utah have changed since the 1800s. So that is really exciting and it’s the first of its kind on Albert Bierstadt,” he said.

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The museum will also have exhibits on Pilar Pobil, a Spanish-born immigrant who self-taught herself painting and sculpture and died in 2024, and a show on the Julia Reagan billboards and how they intersected with pop culture and art in Utah.

Additionally, the museum’s opening exhibitions will include a gallery on the history of the B’nai Israel Temple, which was completed in 1891, two years before the Salt Lake Temple was finished.

The B’nai Israel Temple was dedicated in 1890 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2026, the building is reopening as the Salt Lake Art Museum. (Photo: Utah State Historical Society)

Museums preserve the culture of whatever they are targeting, Jensen said. The Salt Lake Art Museum aims to preserve Utah’s art culture and its communities, he added.

There are many great artists from Utah who are famous around the world but unknown within their home state, and this museum hopes to change that, Jensen said.

“We have more artists here per capita than anywhere in the U.S., and it’s time that we shine a light on it and celebrate it. And that goes all the way from arts and crafts up to fine art,” he said.

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He hopes people are proud of how much quality art comes from our state. When people come to the museum, they support great Utah artists and have a chance to learn more about the place they call home.

Art can be a great avenue to discuss modern issues, such as immigration, climate change and discrimination, through both historical and contemporary lenses, Jensen said. For example, the Salt Lake Art Museum plans to do a show soon on the Great Salt Lake and host a plein air competition at the lake.

“I want people to think of everything that’s happening in our modern world when they come through here and to see themselves reflected in that and how they should be reacting to it,” he said.

Overall, Jensen hopes people appreciate and support art museums as they “tell the story of us as a species.”

“When you go to a museum, it’s a chance to reflect on what we were and what we have become — things lost and things improved. So I really think it’s important because it tells us the greater story of humanity,” Jensen said.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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Washington

NOAA outlines why Washington’s snowpack fell short after a brutal winter

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NOAA outlines why Washington’s snowpack fell short after a brutal winter


It was a brutal winter for the snowpack in the western states, including Washington, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

That has current snowpack levels beyond bleak.

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A map from NOAA shows the percentage of typical moisture in the snowpack across the West. It’s based on the median of the last 35 years.

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An 8-14 day precipitation outlook. (NOAA)

Parts of the Cascades have just 13 to 27 percent of the water we could expect in our snowpack this time of year. The Olympics are at just 10 percent.

It was hoped that snowfall in April and May in some areas would offset the snow deficit, but that didn’t happen.

A dry snowpack is going to be a strain on agricultural water use this summer and will boost fire danger during the hottest months of the year.

What comes next?

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Fin, Win, and their uncle Shawn were surprised and delighted by the unexpected  April snowfall in the Cascades. (KOMO)

Fin, Win, and their uncle Shawn were surprised and delighted by the unexpected April snowfall in the Cascades. (KOMO)

According to the 8-14 day precipitation outlook from NOAA, our state can expect equal chances of the typical amount of wetness over the next 2 weeks.

At the same time, government forecasters are expecting a 33 to 40 percent chance of above normal temperatures.

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Forecasters are hoping for a surge of spring rain to at least delay a spike in the fire danger, but without a healthy snowpack heading into the summer months, water supplies could be bleak in parts of our state.



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