Add The California Post on Google Gavin Newsom has decided he’s skeptical of AI. It’s the exact opposite of the stance he took just one year ago.
In October 2025, Newsom vetoed a bill that would require data centers to report their anticipated and past water use when applying for, and renewing their business licenses.
Newsom wanted to boost California as a center of AI innovation and growth. So he didn’t want to restrict the industry.
“The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies is driving an unprecedented demand for data center capacity throughout the nation. As the global epicenter of the technology sector, California is well positioned to support the development of this critically important digital infrastructure in the state.”
“I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements,” he added.
But now, Newsom is signing bills to control AI and data centers — including a bill that requires data centers to provide information about their water use.
Instead of boosting AI as a driver of California’s economy, Newsom is telling the world that AI needs to be controlled.
The governor says he’s “taking action” on AI to address “the very real concerns that impact all of our futures.”
Democrats decided to adopt an anti-AI message heading into the midterms.
They are amplifying public anxiety about the long-shot risks of AI, and the water and energy use of data centers.
But Newsom has a record he has to bury. And so he is desperate to look like he’s trying to stop what he once cheered.
He is issuing executive orders to develop a “kill switch” and appointing a committee to come up with new regulations.
Last year, he was “reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements.”
This year, he is boasting about “first-in-the-nation safeguards and accountability measures,” even though other states moved first.
“Decisive action to strengthen AI oversight,” he calls it.
There is nothing “decisive” about Gavin Newsom.
He is a classic finger-in-the-wind politician, who follows the polls to figure out what he believes that day.
The needs of the party come before the needs of the state — and the needs of the politician come before all.
Whatever your view on AI, you can be sure that Newsom has agreed with you, at one point or another.
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