Signal California enacts first-in-nation AI auditor registry law

Summary

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1405 and Senate Bill 813 on September 9, 2026, creating the first U.S. legal framework requiring independent third-party audits of AI systems. AB 1405, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, establishes a state registry of certified AI auditors, with California's Government Operations Agency required to build the registry by January 1, 2027. The law sets standards for auditors' independence, transparency, and integrity, and applies to frontier AI labs and AI-driven hiring tools. Newsom framed the signing as a call for federal action, while also signing separate child-safety chatbot and social-media laws the same day. The move extends California's pattern of using state law to fill gaps left by the absence of federal AI legislation.