California Legislature Overwhelmingly Passes Fathom-Sponsored Bill to Spur Independent Verification of AI Safety
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Last night, the California Legislature overwhelmingly passed SB 813, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney, and sponsored by Fathom, bringing California one step closer to establishing the country’s first state framework for independent verification organizations (IVOs) to test AI safety claims, measure risk, and build public trust in AI innovation.
Fathom has developed and championed the IVO model at the heart of SB 813. IVOs are qualified outside experts that can independently assess the risk of AI models and systems using credible testing and analysis.
If signed by Governor Newsom, this bill represents a critical first-in-the-nation effort, with California kicking off the hard work to build the underpinning for independent safety and risk evaluations. Bills in Congress and a number of states are exploring the use of IVOs and requirements for third-party assessments, but no state has yet built the infrastructure to enable this ecosystem of evaluators. That changes with SB 813.
California led the nation on AI transparency once already with SB 53, which now requires large frontier developers to publish a safety framework and report critical incidents. But determining whether these AI models are safe still largely relies on companies to assess their own systems and report their own results. Fathom sponsored SB 813 to begin building the next layer of accountability: the bill directs the Government Operations Agency to designate qualified IVOs, so that the potential risks to businesses, children and families, and society posed by this consequential technology can be independently assessed rather than simply taken on faith.
“The power of the independent verification model is that it lets independent, qualified experts assess the risk of AI capabilities, and it keeps pace with the technology instead of freezing a single test into law,” said Andrew Freedman, Fathom’s CEO. “This is the model we’ve championed with policymakers across the country. It gives the public a way to trust AI and gives companies a credible way to show their system safeguards work as intended. We’re grateful for Senator McNerney’s leadership and to everyone who helped advance this legislation, and we’re excited to see the IVO framework gain national momentum.”
As artificial intelligence is increasingly adopted, American families, educators, businesses, and all corners of our society are wanting to know how they can trust this powerful technology in order to make the most of its potential for improving lives and securing American competitiveness. SB 813’s IVO model builds a flexible foundation for growing that trust, both for California and for the rest of the nation.
As the sponsor of SB 813, Fathom will continue working with California policymakers, technical experts, and industry stakeholders to move the framework forward and help California establish a model that can be replicated across the country.
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About Fathom
Fathom is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to build a governance architecture that helps society navigate the transition to a world with AI by fostering trust, safety, and innovation. Fathom has developed and championed the independent verification model for AI and works with policymakers across the country to put it into practice. Learn more at http://fathom.org.
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