Governor Newsom launches new initiatives to partner with tech policy experts and accelerate responsible AI in state government

SAN FRANCISCO — Governor Newsom today launched new initiatives to establish new partnerships with the best and brightest tech policy experts from across the country, continue integrating artificial intelligence into state operations, and provide employees with new tools and technologies to help them better serve Californians. 

California is the fourth-largest economy in the world, the birthplace of tech, the top pipeline for tech talent, and home to the nation’s largest-valued tech companies, the most successful pre-seed startups, and 33 of the top 50 privately held AI companies around the globe. California is uniquely positioned to benefit from this talent, and today Governor Newsom expands his engagement with some of the brightest minds in tech policy worldwide to advance California’s work. 

Tapping California’s best and brightest to advance responsible AI

The Governor today is announcing the launch of the California Innovation Council, which leverages the collective knowledge of the nation’s top tech policy experts to help California develop and strengthen its technology policy. The council will tackle issues ranging from empowering workers to countering tech fraud to protecting children online. Participants include former U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, UC Office of the President and UC Berkeley, Mozilla Foundation, the Brookings Institute, the California Chamber of Commerce, and more. A full list is below.

“For too long, ‘move fast and break things’ has meant breaking trust, breaking communities, and breaking democracy itself. California is charting a different path: move deliberately and build things that actually work for people,” said Nabiha Syed, Executive Director of Mozilla Foundation. “Our mission has always been to prove that you can imagine and innovate without exploitation. Mozilla Foundation is honored to be part of this Council that embodies those principles at exactly the scale and moment it’s needed most.”

Governor Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom gathered the Council together for an initial meeting hosted by the Mozilla Foundation at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. There, the groups broke off into four working groups: 

• Protecting Child Online Safety and Countering Image-Based Abuse (led by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom with the State Board of Education and the California Department of Technology)

• Countering Tech Fraud (led by the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency)

• Modernizing Government Service Delivery (led by the Government Operations Agency, including the California Department of Technology and the Office of Data and Innovation)

• Technology, Economic Development, and Workforce (led by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency)

New partnerships to modernize government services

The Governor is also launching today a new Emerging Technology Accelerator, creating formal partnerships between the state and Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, UC Berkeley, the Mozilla Foundation, the Tech Talent Project, US Digital Response, and Nava Labs. The organizations will work with the state, through GovOps, the California Department of Technology and the Office of Data and Innovation, to design, develop, deploy, and evaluate products that modernize government service delivery. 

Introducing Poppy. AI to make state employees’ jobs easier

Governor Newsom has recognized AI’s role in advancing and improving government services – and solving problems to make Californians’ lives better. In 2023, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing agencies to begin responsibly adopting generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), exploring the beneficial uses of GenAI, and streamlining procurement to help the state quickly try out new GenAI solutions. 

To help meet the Governor’s directive, the California Department of Technology launched a new AI tool, Poppy. Poppy is built on GenAI large language models and is specifically tailored for state government use, with over 20 state departments already involved in its development and testing.  

Poppy provides additional security through the state’s network. Poppy, which utilizes 11 different AI models, provides additional security to protect state data on the state’s network, is grounded on public state data to reduce risk, and leverages the state’s servers to reduce costs. It includes pre-built, easy-to-use queries tailored to common state business needs, facilitating more reliable, trustworthy outcomes. It does not use Californians’ personally identifiable information.

“We want to empower every State employee to be able to leverage AI to support their work. This tool is built around our statewide business processes, aligned with our values, and designed to make government work more efficiently,” said State Chief Information Officer and CDT Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins. “Poppy can accelerate GenAI adoption across California and enable our teams to focus on what matters most—delivering real results for the people we serve.”

New AI trainings and fellowships

Also in response to the Governor’s Executive Order, the California Department of Human Resources, Office of Data and Innovation, and Department of Technology have developed over 20 trainings on AI for state employees, including trainings on responsible AI adoption, a five course AI “certificate”, and AI boot camps. The state is also collaborating with UC Davis, Sacramento State, and Cisco to offer trainings on GenAI adoption, ethics, and governance. To further strengthen the state’s AI capacity and build a pipeline of leaders in public sector responsible AI adoption, the California Department of Technology has launched new emerging technology fellowship programs with the University of California’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) and with Stanford’s Family Center for Ethics in Society.

Birthplace of modern tech

California works closely to foster tech leadership and create an environment where industry and talent thrive. This is why California is home to the most tech companies in the nation. California is the global leader in technology and is balancing its work to advance AI with commonsense laws to protect the public, while also embracing the technology to make our lives easier and  government more efficient, effective, and transparent. California currently has laws that help: 

• Foster and guide the development of safe frontier AI models
• Create strong protocols for child safety and protections against self-harm
• Crack down on sexually explicit deepfakes and require AI watermarking
• Protect performers’ digital likenesses
• Prevent scams from AI-generated robocalls

Governor’s Innovation Council 

Protecting Child Online Safety and Countering Image-based Abuse
Led by the Office of the First Partner (OFP) with support from the California Department of Technology (CDT)and the State Board of Education (SBE)

• Cailin Crockett, Senior Consultant, Global NCII Clearing Centre
• Adam Dodge, Founder, EndTAB
• Katya Hancock, CEO, Young Futures
• Sunny Xun Liu, Director of Research, Stanford Social Media Lab 
• Larissa May, Founder & Executive Director, #HalfTheStory
• Candice Odgers, Director of Research and Faculty Development, School of Social Ecology, UC Irvine 
• Sharon Olken, Board Member, State Board of Education
• Jenny Radesky, Co-Medical Director, American Academy of Pediatrics, Center of Excellence of Social Media and Youth Mental Health
• Derek Slater, Co-founder, Proteus Strategies

Modernizing Government Service Delivery
Led by GovOps including CDT  and the Office of Data and Innovation (ODI)

• Jennifer Anastasoff, Founder & Executive Director, Tech Talent Project
• Krista Canellakis, Program Director, U.S. Digital Response
• Genevieve Gaudet, Director of Design, Nava Labs
• Dan Ho, Professor and Director Reg Lab, Stanford University
• Tara McGuinness, Founder and Executive Director, New Practice Lab, New America
• Deirdre Mulligan, Professor of Practice, School of Information, UC Berkeley 
• Nabiha Syed, Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation

Technology, Economic Development, and Workforce
Co-led by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency

• Laphonza Butler, former US Senator
• Ronak Daylami, Vice President for Advocacy, Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Technologies, California Chamber of Commerce
• Molly Kinder, Senior Fellow, Brookings
• Julianne McCall, CEO, California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)
• Katherine Newman, Provost, UC Office of the President
• David Onek, CEO, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) 
• Angie Wei, former Legislative Affairs Secretary, Governor Gavin Newsom

Countering Tech Fraud
Led by Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH), including the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI)

• Kate Griffin, Director, Inclusive Financial System, Financial Security Program, Aspen Institute
• Carole House, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
• Johnette Jauron, Head of Cybercrimes Section, California Department of Justice
• Ted Mermin, Director, California Low-Income Consumer Coalition (CLICC)
• Leigh Phillips, President and CEO, Saver Life
• Kathy Stokes, Director of Fraud Prevention, Fraud Watch Network, AARP
• Erin West, Founder and President, Operation Shamrock