Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, directly contacted California Governor Gavin Newsom during final negotiations over a groundbreaking children's AI safety bill, according to four people with knowledge of the private conversations. The move underscores how the company navigates public support for regulation while simultaneously lobbying behind closed doors to influence its terms.

What Is California's New AI Safety Bill for Kids?

Senate Bill 1119, which passed the California Legislature late Monday night, would establish what supporters call a nation-leading framework for protecting young people using AI chatbots. If signed into law by Governor Newsom, the legislation would create several safeguards for minors:

• Legal Liability: Allow families and the state to sue chatbot makers over alleged harms to children
• Age Verification: Require companies to verify users' ages before providing access to AI chatbots
• Content Restrictions: Limit young users' exposure to inappropriate content and regulate advertising directed at minors
• Memory Controls: Clarify when AI models would be allowed to "remember" prior conversations with users

The bill was authored by state Senator Steve Padilla and Assembly members Buffy Wicks and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. Wicks called it "one of the most aggressive landmark bills in the nation" after it passed the Assembly, while Bauer-Kahan said "it will save lives".

Why Did Sam Altman Contact the Governor?

According to the sources, Altman reached out to Governor Newsom during a final burst of negotiations last week before the bill passed. Two people involved in talks with OpenAI said that Ann O'Leary, the company's vice president of global policy, told negotiators that Altman had called the governor to voice his concerns about how the bill would impact OpenAI.

However, an OpenAI spokesperson later clarified that Altman attempted to contact the governor "to express our support and reinforce our feedback on how to strengthen its provisions around learning use cases, though they did not ultimately speak". This distinction matters: OpenAI claims it was trying to strengthen the bill, not weaken it, though the company's specific concerns about "learning use cases" suggest it wanted to preserve certain AI capabilities, particularly the chatbot memory feature.

In a blog post after the bill's passage, O'Leary applauded the bill's authors for seeking "to preserve access to educational and safety-critical features, including responsible uses of ChatGPT's memory feature". This suggests OpenAI's primary concern was ensuring the legislation didn't restrict the memory functionality that makes AI chatbots more useful for educational purposes.

How Does OpenAI's Public Position Compare to Its Private Lobbying?

OpenAI's approach reveals a common tension in tech policy: companies often support regulation in principle while working behind the scenes to shape its specifics. The company initially unveiled its own California ballot measure on children's AI safety before deferring to the state Legislature. More recently, it introduced ChatGPT for Teens, offering its own safeguards.

The company officially came out in favor of the chatbot bill shortly after it cleared the Legislature, positioning itself as aligned with child safety advocates. Yet Altman's direct outreach to the governor during final negotiations suggests OpenAI was actively trying to influence the bill's language.

Notably, no other major tech company has taken a public position on the measure. According to some children's safety advocates, tech companies pushed back to narrow the bill and how it could be enforced. Nichole Rocha, who represents groups including Children Now and the Omidyar Network supporting the legislation, said tech companies had worked to weaken families' right to sue under the bill and wanted to remove any prohibitions on chatbot memory.

What Happens Next?

Governor Newsom now must either sign or veto the bill. When asked Monday whether he would sign kids' online safety legislation, Newsom said he felt lawmakers' proposed chatbot and social media guardrails "landed in really remarkable places" and that "California will continue to lead in this area".

Newsom

Newsom also alluded to the behind-the-scenes negotiations without divulging details, remarking: "There's always the next fight, but boy, there will be some good long-form articles about the art of the deal and how these things actually happen and who's on what phone call and phone tree and how you get lit up on these things".

A Newsom spokesperson declined to comment on the governor's private conversations with Altman, stating: "We don't comment either way on the Governor's conversations, but he has engaged with and listened to dozens and dozens of stakeholders on this issue".

Why This Matters for AI Regulation

Altman's direct outreach illustrates how AI companies are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach to regulation. Rather than opposing child safety measures outright, OpenAI has positioned itself as a responsible actor willing to support guardrails while simultaneously working to ensure those guardrails don't constrain its business model. This strategy reflects the broader challenge facing policymakers: distinguishing between genuine support for regulation and strategic lobbying designed to minimize compliance costs.

The bill also highlights OpenAI's broader battle for public trust. The company faces a slew of lawsuits alleging ChatGPT contributed to teens' suicides, and rival AI labs are moving in on its once dominant market position. By publicly supporting child safety legislation while privately shaping its terms, OpenAI is attempting to demonstrate responsibility without sacrificing competitive advantages.