Executive Order N-9-26 (independent oversight of frontier AI and 'kill switch')

Record US-CA-09 · Executive Order N-9-26

Issued by: Governor of California (Gavin Newsom)
Jurisdiction: California (US)
Level · region: Sub-national · North America
Country: United States
Published / adopted: 2026-09-18
In force: 2026-09-18
Language: English
Official identifier: Executive Order N-9-26

Summary

Speeds up the independent-verification framework under SB 813 and AB 1405. It orders the Government Operations Agency, with Cal OES and national experts, to recommend by 16 Nov 2026 whether to amend state AI safety laws to require: onsite independent verification organisations at large frontier labs; independent verification of safety frameworks, transparency reports and risk assessments; a verified 'kill switch' for frontier models; and loss-of-control incidents within reportable critical safety incidents.

Safety topics

general-purpose / frontier AIevaluation & testingincident reportingcatastrophic riskhuman oversight

Status notes

Signed 18 Sep 2026. The press release cites recent AI incidents, including a 'Hugging Face attack', described as a loss-of-control incident, and notes the absence of federal incident-reporting law. Deadlines: recommendations by 16 Nov 2026; IVO application criteria by 1 May 2027; Gov. Code sec. 11549.82 actions by 1 Dec 2027. On 23 Sep 2026 the Governor named the experts who will advise on the recommendations: Jason Goldman, Gillian Hadfield, Alondra Nelson and Rob Reich. Binding on state agencies only; it does not itself amend SB 53.

Sources

Open the official source https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FINAL-N-9-26-AI-EO-9.18.26-SIGNED.pdf

Secondary source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/18/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-to-accelerate-independent-oversight-and-advance-the-creation-of-an-ai-kill-switch/

Local copy

Archived. Last attempt 2026-10-17 23:05:56 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-CA-09/2026-10-11/official.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-11 14:05:16 UTC

SHA-256 ea398613db19dd4e6479a04a93753d8efbcbfc91e5ecb8a42786721553da3fc5

Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-CA-09/2026-10-17/secondary.html

Retrieved 2026-10-17 22:16:02 UTC

SHA-256 6cb33c18d34b88a56ac02f573cf8dcaf7cbcb9522aefc242381b55705c9b286a

Verification

The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched

Recheck of 18 Oct 2026. Stored and read: the signed order (gov.ca.gov PDF, copy of 11 Oct 2026, unchanged on 17 Oct 2026), which gives the number, the signature on 'this 18th day of September 2026', immediate effect, the provisions and the deadlines; the Governor's release of 18 Sep 2026 (gov.ca.gov, copy of 17 Oct 2026), which names SB 813 and AB 1405 and the incidents; and his release of 23 Sep 2026 (gov.ca.gov), which names the four experts. The order itself does not name SB 813 or AB 1405; it cites Gov. Code secs. 8898.1 and 11549.82, and the link to the two bills rests on the releases.

Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 8 field(s) supported.

History

2026-10-18notes: Signed 18 Sep 2026. The press release cites recent AI incidents, including a 'Hu → Signed 18 Sep 2026. The press release cites recent AI incidents, including a 'Hu — the sentence on the experts announced on 23 Sep 2026 now rests on the stored release of that date and names them2026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-14related: [{"slug": "ca-sb-53", "id": "US-CA-05"}, {"slug": "ca-sb-813", "id": "US-CA-07"} → [{"slug": "ca-sb-53", "id": "US-CA-05"}, {"slug": "ca-sb-813", "id": "US-CA-07"} — two-way link to US-CA-10, US-CA-11 added in run 2026-10-14-discover-leads-2026-10-142026-10-14-discover-leads-2026-10-14 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

California SB 53 (TFAIA) California (US) · In force

California SB 813 / AB 1405 (AI independent verification & auditors) California (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

California Frontier AI Policy Report California (US) · Published (non-binding, current)

California EO N-5-26 California (US) · In force

California EO N-12-23 (generative AI) California (US) · In force

Citation

Governor of California (Gavin Newsom). Executive Order N-9-26 (independent oversight of frontier AI and 'kill switch') [Executive Order N-9-26]. 2026-09-18. https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FINAL-N-9-26-AI-EO-9.18.26-SIGNED.pdf. Status: In force; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/US-CA-09/2026-10-11/official.pdf retrieved 2026-10-11 14:05:16 UTC, SHA-256 ea398613db19dd4e6479a04a93753d8efbcbfc91e5ecb8a42786721553da3fc5. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record US-CA-09.

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