Catalog

California SB 53 (Transparency in Frontier AI Act)

California Attorney General / Office of Emergency Services · pack 0.1.2 · verified against the official source as of 2026-09-27.

Binding law — in force

Large frontier developers must publish an implemented frontier AI risk framework (California SB 53)

Under California's Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (SB 53; Bus. & Prof. Code 22757.10 et seq., effective 2026-01-01 — the first US statute focused squarely on AI safety), large frontier developers must write, implement, and clearly and conspicuously publish on their website a frontier AI framework applying to their frontier models, describing how they approach: incorporating national/international standards and industry-consensus best practices; defining and assessing thresholds used to identify whether a frontier model has capabilities that could pose a catastrophic risk; applying mitigations to address potential catastrophic risks; identifying and responding to critical safety incidents; and assessing and managing catastrophic risk arising from internal use of their frontier models. They must additionally submit to the Office of Emergency Services a summary of any assessment of catastrophic risk from internal use. Detect a frontier-model development context with no published risk framework or no internal-use catastrophic-risk assessment.

ca-sb53.frontier-ai-framework · Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 22757.12 (frontier AI framework) [per CA AG summary] · official source · jurisdictions: US-CA

Binding law — in force

Frontier developers must not suppress or retaliate against AI safety whistleblowers (California SB 53)

Under California SB 53 (Labor Code 1107.1), employees responsible for assessing, managing, or addressing the risk of critical safety incidents regarding AI foundation models ('covered employees') may disclose to the Attorney General or other specified entities information they have reasonable cause to believe shows either that the frontier developer's activities pose a specific and substantial danger to public health or safety resulting from a catastrophic risk, or that the developer has violated the Transparency in Frontier AI Act. Frontier developers cannot make or enforce rules, regulations, policies, or contracts that prevent covered employees from making such disclosures, or that retaliate against them for doing so. Detect employment agreements, policies, or internal controls that restrict AI-safety disclosures, or the absence of a protected internal reporting channel.

ca-sb53.frontier-whistleblower-protection · Cal. Labor Code 1107.1 (covered-employee disclosure) [per CA AG summary] · official source · jurisdictions: US-CA