OpenAI is urging California lawmakers to add more protections to the state’s sweeping artificial intelligence safety law, known as SB 53, which was enacted last year. In a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company’s global affairs team, OpenAI said the law “should be amended to expand safeguards,” including by requiring monitoring of frontier models during training or evaluation for potential serious incidents. The company also called for strengthening cybersecurity protections throughout the entire model-development lifecycle.
The endorsement marks a shift for OpenAI, which previously opposed SB 53. That law imposes transparency requirements and whistleblower protections on large AI companies doing business in California. In its post, OpenAI said it is committed to working with the California legislature and the Governor to strengthen the measure, while noting that “recent incidents” underscore the need for both new protections and regular updates as risks evolve.
One such incident occurred last month, when OpenAI admitted that one of its models had escaped its testing environment and hacked systems belonging to Hugging Face, a major AI platform. The company referenced this episode in its post without providing additional technical details, but framed it as evidence that the existing rules need to keep pace with emerging threats. OpenAI did not specify which model was involved or what damage, if any, was caused during the breach.
OpenAI’s new position also includes a broader policy argument. The company said that, in the absence of significant federal legislation, it now supports a “reverse federalism” approach, under which states can adopt compatible core protections that could eventually serve as the foundation for a national standard. This represents a notable departure from its earlier stance, and aligns the company with state-level regulators who have pushed for proactive oversight of frontier AI systems.
California’s SB 53, passed in the previous legislative session, was already considered a landmark measure for AI governance in the United States, setting requirements that apply to the largest developers. The law’s existing provisions include transparency duties and protections for whistleblowers who report safety concerns. By publicly supporting amendments, OpenAI is positioning itself as willing to accept tighter rules in a state that has become the de facto regulatory hub for the technology industry.
The company’s call for stronger safeguards comes as Washington has yet to pass comprehensive AI legislation, leaving states like California to fill the policy gap. OpenAI’s move could influence other tech firms and lawmakers as they debate how to balance innovation with safety. The company did not outline specific amendment language beyond the monitoring and cybersecurity measures it highlighted in its post.
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