Capitol Axis

Artificial Intelligence

California regulates the same AI system three ways at once: the Privacy Protection Agency, the Civil Rights Council, and the Legislature. Capitol Axis gets developers and deployers into the room before the regulatory text locks a compliance model that does not fit the product.

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748 organizations on the record across the 12 bills we track here
On the Governor's desk
3
Still moving
7
Vetoed
2
AB 1018 · Automated decision systems 57 for · 86 against

From the public record, updated September 18, 2026. See every AI bill.

Representation for organizations like yours.

  • Frontier and foundation model developers
  • Companies deploying AI in hiring, lending, housing, or insurance
  • Health plans and health technology using AI in utilization review
  • Generative AI and synthetic media providers
  • Vendors selling AI to California government
  • Technology trade associations

Services.

Rulemaking

  • CPPA dockets on ADMT, risk assessments, and cybersecurity audits through their formal comment periods
  • Civil Rights Council guidance and compliance-timeline advocacy for employers using hiring algorithms
  • Attorney General age-assurance rulemaking where AI-driven age signals are involved

Legislation

  • Testimony before the Privacy and Judiciary committees on frontier-model, ADMT, and synthetic-media bills
  • Successor bills to SB 53 and the AI Transparency Act, and health care AI measures
  • Early-warning briefings when a new AI bill touches a client's sector

Health, insurance, and employment

  • DMHC and CDI audit standards for AI in utilization review and claims
  • Employer positioning under the Civil Rights Council rules

Procurement

  • Positioning ahead of Executive Order N-5-26 vendor certification as GO-Biz and the Government Operations Agency draft the standards
  • Coalition work with technology trade associations

Why now.

  • ADMT obligations phase in from 2027.

    The window to shape guidance and enforcement priorities under the Privacy Protection Agency's rules is open now.

  • Provenance rules took effect in August.

    The AI Transparency Act's duties began August 2, 2026, with platform duties in January 2027. The next session is where technical problems get fixed before the second phase.

  • The state is writing its own vendor standards.

    Any company that sells or wants to sell AI tools to California government needs to be at the table while the procurement framework is drafted.

Explore legislative prioritiesExplore the agency landscape

Questions clients ask.

When do California's automated decision-making rules take effect?

The Privacy Protection Agency's regulations on automated decision-making technology, risk assessments, and cybersecurity audits took effect January 1, 2026. Obligations for significant decisions phase in from January 1, 2027, and assessment and audit reporting deadlines run through April 2029.

What does SB 53 require?

The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, signed September 29, 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, requires developers of the largest models to publish safety frameworks and transparency reports and to report critical safety incidents.

Can an employer in California use AI in hiring?

Yes, subject to the Civil Rights Council's automated-decision system regulations effective October 1, 2025, which cover employers with five or more employees, require four years of recordkeeping on automated-decision data, and bar AI-based medical inquiries, in addition to the Privacy Protection Agency's rules.

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