“Governor Newsom understands better than anyone the importance of California’s leadership when the federal government does not step up,” said state Senator Scott Wiener in a statement to TechCrunch. “The Governor and the First Partner’s work to bring awareness to the impacts of social media is a direct result of the federal government’s failure to regulate social media. I have every confidence the Governor will give this bill the consideration it deserves.”

Newsom lamented on Tuesday how the federal government has “failed to regulate” in the AI space. The governor noted how California has led previous on tech regulation – namely, social media and privacy – and he isn’t surprised that people are looking to the state for leadership again. However, Newsom says he’s being careful not to squander California’s early lead in AI.