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Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) has proposed two new pieces of legislation over the past month aimed at increasing regulation and transparency around artificial intelligence technology.
The “AI Copyright Transparency Act” – sponsored by the SAG-AFTRA following the union’s lengthy 2023 strike and ongoing labor negotiations – would require generative AI developers to inform copyright owners about how their materials are being used, specifically when or if their material is included in generative AI training data.
“As the AI industry continues to develop and expand, it is critical for content creators to know if and how their work is being used to train advanced models,” Bauer-Kahan said in an announcement Feb. 4. “The AI Copyright Transparency Act increases accountability for AI developers and empowers copyright owners to exercise their rights.”
In addition to SAG-AFTRA, the bill is co-sponsored by the Concept Arts Association and the National Association of Voice Actors.
“This is the type of commonsense legislation we need to see more of in the A.I. age,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA in the announcement. “Individuals and companies deserve to know if their intellectual property has been used to train A.I. models. SAG-AFTRA applauds Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan for introducing this bill to protect human artistry and ensure A.I. remains accountable to the work of human content creators.”
If passed, the AI Copyright Transparency Act – or Assembly Bill 412 – would require developers to offer a list of copyrighted material used to train generative AI systems and models to the creators of that material, as well as a public mechanism that would allow owners to request that information. It would be enforced by allowing copyright owners to bring forth civil litigation against developers should they fail to provide that information.
“There is a great need for transparency in this realm,” organizers with the Concept Art Association said in a statement. “Creators must have the ability to know, protect, and enforce their copyrights. Similarly, AI developers must have the ability to protect themselves from unwarranted claims that their datasets contain copyrighted works.”
The latest bill comes on the heels of another piece of proposed legislation introduced on Jan. 10 that aims to contend with the increasing energy costs associated with AI development “while protecting California ratepayers from bearing unnecessary costs”, according to an announcement from Bauer-Kahan’s office.
“Artificial intelligence represents incredible potential, but it also comes with an enormous energy footprint,” Bauer-Kahan said. “This bill is about ensuring transparency, accountability, and fairness as we build the infrastructure for AI while protecting our environment and California consumers.”
AB 222 would require AI developers to collect and make available data on energy used during in the development of new AI models and systems, aiming to make the costs associated with the technology available to the public and policymakers.
Specifically, it would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to analyze the costs associated with new and upgraded data centers and to minimize the expense to rate-payers who don’t directly benefit from them when utilities agencies seek rate increases, “ensuring the financial burden of infrastructure expansion is fairly distributed.”
The next step for both bills is to be assigned to policy committees for analysis before potentially returning to the assembly floor for further discussion and a vote if those committees recommend that they advance.
