In the News

On Monday, March 4, State Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) discusses the importance of understanding the potential risks of AI and how his SB 942 will create new tools to identify AI-generated content and deepfakes. 

Watch the full interview here




(Mercury News) - California lacks anywhere near enough homeless shelters for everyone living on the street. To bring more people indoors and out of harm’s way, Bay Area lawmakers are pushing a new bill to fast-track building tiny homes and other kinds of temporary shelter statewide.

“People are dying on our streets every day,” said State Sen. Josh Becker, a Democrat from Menlo Park, while unveiling the legislation Monday at a recently completed shelter in San Jose.

 




Senator Becker discusses new funding tocreate a permanent Black History Museum and Learning Center (Photo curtesy of NBC Bay Area)(NBC Bay Area) New Funding to Help Create Permanent Black History Museum (Video)




“There is reason for serious concern about how AI could be used to mislead voters in campaigns,” said Josh Becker, a Democratic state senator in California, in an interview. “It’s encouraging to see some companies coming to the table but right now I don’t see enough specifics, so we will likely need legislation that sets clear standards.”

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New California bill aims to implement AI transparency.

California State Senator Josh Becker introduces legislation that will require AI providers to watermark their images, videos and audio.

Click here to watch. 




California lawmakers are drawing up multiple plans to require watermarks on content created by artificial intelligence to curb the abuses within the emerging technology, which has affected sectors from political races to the stock market.

At least five lawmakers have promised or are considering different proposals that would require AI companies to implement some type of verification that a video, photo, or written work was made by the technology. The activity comes as advanced AI has rapidly evolved to create realistic images or audio on an unprecedented level.

 




(KRON) — From housing the homeless to addressing retail crime, there’s a lot to address in 2024. The Bay Area Legislative Caucus advocates for policy solutions in Sacramento, and State Senator Josh Becker of District 13 – representing Santa Clara and San Mateo counties — is the Caucus Chair.

He talked one-on-one with KRON4’s Stephanie Lin about what he hopes to achieve in his new role.