On September 18, the California governor’s office dated an executive order that directs state agencies to accelerate implementation of SB 813 and AB 1405, according to the state. The announcement also says California will convene national experts within two months to recommend further changes to strengthen the state’s AI safety law.
In the same announcement, the state explicitly connected AI policy to workers and disruption. It said California has already signed a first-in-the-nation executive order addressing AI’s economic and labor impacts, including expanded tracking of AI’s economic effects and work to adapt job-training and public-benefit programs.
AP reported the same day that Newsom signed the order to accelerate implementation of California’s AI oversight law and that it includes “kill switches” for developers to shut down systems. AP also reported that policymakers are responding to AI risks amid concern about economic upheaval and job losses.
What California said it is doing
The governor’s office said the executive order is meant to speed up implementation of the state’s AI safety and oversight framework. In the words of the announcement, California is accelerating SB 813 and AB 1405 and will convene experts within two months to recommend changes. The supplied sources do not identify which national experts will be invited or whether any specific recommendations have already been chosen.
The state’s announcement also links that regulatory push to labor policy. It says California has already signed a separate executive order addressing AI’s economic and labor impacts, and that this labor-focused order includes expanded tracking of AI’s economic effects and work to adapt job-training and public-benefit programs. The supplied sources do not describe the scope, timing, or criteria for those tracking and adaptation efforts beyond that language.
What AP reported
AP reported that Newsom signed the order on September 18, 2026. AP also reported that the order accelerates a California law calling for independent oversight of AI companies and “kill switches” for developers to shut down systems. Those phrases are AP’s wording in its report, and the supplied sources do not add more detail about how such a shutdown mechanism would work.
AP further reported that policymakers are responding to AI risks amid concern about economic upheaval and job losses. That is a broader framing from AP; the supplied sources do not say that California’s order itself predicts a specific number of jobs lost or creates a specific timetable for labor-market effects.
Why the labor piece matters
The most notable feature of the California announcement is not only that it seeks to speed up oversight, but that it explicitly places AI policy alongside work on labor impacts. The state says it is expanding tracking of AI’s economic effects and adapting job-training and public-benefit programs. That makes the order a policy signal about measurement and preparation, not a report of a single layoff event.
For readers trying to follow the practical effect, the next thing to watch is whether the expert group the governor’s office says it will convene within two months produces additional changes, and whether the state provides more detail on how it plans to track AI’s economic effects. The supplied sources do not say what those changes will be, who the experts will be, or whether any agency has already begun a specific implementation step.
What is known, and what is not
Known from the supplied sources: the executive order was dated September 18, 2026; it directs acceleration of SB 813 and AB 1405; it says California will convene national experts within two months; and the announcement explicitly ties AI policy to workers, economic effects, job training, and public-benefit programs. AP separately reported that the order includes “kill switches” for developers to shut down systems.
Not identified in the supplied sources: which experts will participate, what exact changes they may recommend, how the state will measure AI’s economic effects, and whether the tracking or program changes have started. The sources also do not identify any immediate workforce-displacement figure tied to this announcement.
Broader context
California’s announcement stands out because it treats AI not only as a safety and oversight issue, but also as a labor-policy issue. The state is framing AI governance as something that may require monitoring economic effects and adjusting training and benefit programs, while also tightening oversight of developers and systems. That combination makes the order a live test case for how a major U.S. state is attempting to manage AI-related disruption before larger shifts become visible.
What happens next depends on the expert process the governor’s office said it will convene and on how state agencies carry out the accelerated implementation of SB 813 and AB 1405. The supplied sources do not say whether the order changes any private-sector obligations immediately, and they do not state that the labor-focused measures have already been completed.
For now, the clearest reporting is that California has chosen to link AI safety law, oversight, and worker impacts in the same policy announcement. That linkage is explicit in the state’s own wording and is the main reason the order is drawing attention beyond the usual AI-regulation debate.