Elon Musk has accused Gavin Newsom of making parody illegal after the governor signed three bills to crack down on the use of AI to create fake images in videos and political ads.
The Governor of California signed Americas toughest law banning political deepfakes on Tuesday as he stood by his July vow to make digital manipulation of election content illegal.
It comes after Newsom publicly rebuked X-owner Elon Musk for sharing a post featuring altered images of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter.
It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom signed the country’s toughest law banning digitally altered political deepfakes on Tuesday
He took to X to share the update, following through on a vow he made in July
Elon Musk claimed Newsom was making parody illegal with his decision
Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and its critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the publics trust through disinformation - especially in todays fraught political climate, Newsom said in a statement.
These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.
On July 29, Newsom took to X, formerly Twitter, vowing: Manipulating a voice in an “ad” like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.
Yesterday he shared the update, saying: I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content -- including deepfakes.
But Elon Musk fired back at the governor, posting a message on the platform that read: You’re not gonna believe this, but @GavinNewsom just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video, alongside two laughing emojis.
The video in question was the altered Kamala Harris campaign ad - a deepfake video using a manipulation of Harris voice.
Musk also shared a post saying They are ACTUALLY trying to make posting memes ilegal. Vote them out, in reference to the UK Labour party and the US Democrats.
Large social media platforms are required to remove deceptive material under a first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted next year.
But Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI.
The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco.
The new laws reaffirm Californias position as a leader in regulating AI in the US, especially in combating election deepfakes.
The state was the first in the US to ban manipulated videos and pictures related to elections in 2019.
Measures in technology and AI proposed by California lawmakers have been used as blueprints for legislators across the country, industry experts said.
With AI supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have raced to address the issue over concerns the manipulated materials could erode the publics trust in what they see and hear.
With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election, Assembly member Gail Pellerin, author of the law banning election deepfakes, said in a statement.
California is taking a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to deceive voters.
The new California laws come the same day as members of Congress unveiled federal legislation aiming to stop election deepfakes.
The bill would give the Federal Election Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections in the same way it has regulated other political misrepresentation for decades.
The FEC has started to consider such regulations after outlawing AI-generated robocalls aimed to discourage voters in February.
Newsom has touted California as an early adopter as well as regulator of AI, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to address highway congestion and provide tax guidance, even as his administration considers new rules against AI discrimination in hiring practices.
He also signed two other bills Tuesday to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized AI use without their consent.