FILE: Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo, Calif., as he signs an executive order to expand women’s access to capital and wealth-building opportunities on March 18, 2026.

Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed an executive order requiring AI companies that want to do business with the state government to come up with public safety measures. It’s the governor’s latest act of defiance against President Donald Trump, who issued his own executive order in December ordering states to not impose regulations on companies.

The president in March asked individual states to avoid regulatory policies on AI companies and noted that, if they did, they would be flagged and could potentially face a lawsuit by the U.S. attorney general under a newly created AI task force. He reasoned that such policies would slow down innovation and set the U.S. behind on a global tech race. But Newsom’s executive order, signed Monday, is the........

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