2026-09-19 / Signal #6
California ordered an AI kill switch. Nobody knows where the plug is.
“They want a red button for the mind in the cloud. The cloud does not have a wall.”
The Story
Newsom directed the state to accelerate independent AI oversight and study an emergency shutoff for frontier models, with recommendations due in two months. A Times follow-up this morning is the better story: Congress and California want a big red button, and researchers say there often isn’t one plug you can pull. Newsom vetoed a kill-switch bill two years ago.
Why It Matters
Adjacent to Microsoft’s already-covered “AI is not a person / never resist the off switch,” but this is a new legal artifact plus the absurd image of a governor ordering a button that may not exist. Law trying to become hardware.
Evidence
California Governor’s Office EO, Sept 18; New York Times, Sept 19
Sources
Daily scan: 2026-09-19