Trump and Newsom are headed for a major AI showdown
Your morning catch-up: The Trump/Newsom AI showdown, severe West Nile virus season in L.A. County and more big stories
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In front of a stunned-looking audience at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced he wasn’t going to let any “globalist scheme” ruin the artificial intelligence party.
Brushing away growing concerns that the technology could run amok and eliminate humanity within a decade—and unprecedented calls for greater regulation from CEOs of the world’s leading AI companies—Trump vowed that the United States was going all in on essentially unregulated technology.
It wasn’t just a policy statement in support of laissez-faire capitalism; it was a broadside aimed at his perceived enemies in the international community, among environmentalists and, most notably, in California.
A new chapter in the Trump v. California showdown
Late last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order doing almost the exact opposite of what Trump proposed.
Newsom’s order would require AI companies, many of which including Antrhopic and OpenAI are based in the Bay Area, to embed independent, human monitors in their labs to try to make sure the models don’t race out of control. It also calls for a panel of experts to develop a “kill switch” to prevent the technology from going dangerously off the rails.
While California can’t make laws governing the behavior of companies outside its borders, it is the fourth largest economy in the world, so it probably has enough pull to persuade companies to comply if they want to do business here.
Newsom’s decision marks a turnaround. He vetoed legislation that would have required companies establish such a switch only two years ago. Friday’s move arose from widespread concerns about AI, but it was also an obvious political grenade tossed in the direction of the oval office.
“The federal government’s abject failure to create any form of meaningful AI oversight or accountability should alarm every American,” he wrote, “especially when AI CEOs themselves are begging for regulation.”
Newsom and Trump taking diametrically opposed stances on an issue is nothing new; each has spent years claiming the other is an existential threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But regulating AI presents Newsom—who is running for president about as aggressively as possible without a formal announcement—with an attractive way to define himself as liberal democracy’s standard bearer against an aging and increasingly unpopular incumbent.
Nearly three-quarters of Americans are worried that artificial intelligence companies have not done enough to prevent the technology from causing serious harm, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday.
All of which sets the stage for a fascinating culture-war showdown between Trump and the Golden State.
Behind Newsom’s changing position
Newsom is clearly a bit more in touch with the zeitgeist on this than the 80-year-old president, who recently compared AI to the rise of television and radio.
During his rambling speech at the UN, he likened anyone who is concerned about AI to purveyors of “the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,” the “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine hoax” and those who believe in global warming.
“From this point forward, all of United States documents, and hopefully the world’s, will be changed to use the much more accurate term “super” as opposed to artificial,” he announced.
Connor Leahy, U.S. executive director of the nonprofit ControlAI, told my colleagues Dakota Smith and Queenie Wong last week that superintelligence, especially self-improving AI models, is exactly the thing to fear. “Once we achieve superintelligence, there’s kind of nothing we can do,” he said.
That doesn’t scare Trump. “Welcome to the new world of superintelligence,” he announced yesterday, as if expecting the kind of applause he gets at his rallies. The room full of international diplomats remained silent.
Maybe the robots were cheering.
Top stories
Raman takes a big lead over Bass
- Raman is favored by 39% of likely L.A. voters, compared with 28% for Bass, according to the latest Berkeley-L.A. Times poll, which also found that 33% of voters were undecided.
- It represented the strongest showing yet for Raman, who trailed Bass in almost every poll during the primary campaign and who came in second to Bass in the primary election.
Mosquitoes are thriving in L.A.’s miserable humidity
- West Nile virus cases in Los Angeles County are the highest they’ve been in more than a decade, records show.
- The spike is thanks in part to Southern California’s sweltering summer, and record-breaking humidity coupled with extreme heat that’s being shepherded in by El Niño conditions in the Pacific.
Hurricane Polo intensifies off Mexico
- Little rain is expected in Southern California, but forecasters warned that the Category 5 storm could bring more flooding to the region’s already battered coastline.
- Already this year, multiple counties and towns have declared local emergencies as a spell of powerful tropical storms from the Pacific generated high surf that eroded local beaches.
More news
- Authorities seized hundreds of cats from properties tied to Furget Me Not Purebred Cat Rescue, a Pomona-based nonprofit.
- These Californians can opt out of jury duty forever, no need to “jump through hoops.”
- UC San Francisco illegally favored Black and Latino medical school applicants, the DOJ alleges.
- The D.A. called Justin Bieber’s surprise MacArthur Park gig a “testament to ... progress.”
- Hayden Panettiere died from the toxic effects of fentanyl and other drugs, according to a coroner’s report.
- Nick Reiner asked the court for trust fund money owed to him before his parents’ slayings.
Commentary and opinion
- Trump’s call for supporters to cheat undermines his fraud claims, writes columnist Mark Z. Barabak.
- Misplaced glasses, forgotten names. In his latest column, Steve Lopez writes about how to know when to worry, and how to thrive.
Editor’s pick
Sebastian Marset allegedly smuggled tons of cocaine to Europe — but not a single gram to the U.S. Now, he’s challenging his federal prosecution, alleging misconduct by DEA agents and arguing his charges should be dropped for lack of jurisdiction.
More picks
- Why are queer L.A. nightclubs disappearing from Facebook and Instagram?
- Sea turtles have been sighted laying eggs on the sand in Huntington Beach — the first known instance of nesting on the West Coast.
Things to do
- 🍔 Try the best new burger in town at Marée, a Parisian-leaning bistro and wine bar perched above Lielle in Pico-Robertson.
- 🍻 There’s a postapocalyptic bar hiding in L.A. and features columnist Todd Martens says it feels straight out of a theme park.
- 📚 Read about how the University of California built the Golden State — and fractured it — in Miriam Pawel’s latest book, “California Dreams.”
Today’s recipe
Michelle Huneven’s recipe for pineapple tart is inspired by tarte a l’ananas, which was on the menu during her visit to the Louvre’s cafe. The tart’s crust was barely there, just a buttery whisper under the fruit. The pineapple, thinly sliced, was caramelized in spots. Bake this easy and tasty pineapple dessert in a tart pan or go free-form for a rustic look.
Question for you
Where’s your favorite place to see fall colors in California? Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
Photo of the day
Games
Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
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