California Enacts SB 813, Creating a State Designation for Independent AI Verification Organizations

Senate Bill 813 (McNerney) was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 9, 2026 as Chapter 179, Statutes of 2026. It adds Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 8898) to Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, titled California Artificial Intelligence Safety Independent Verification Organizations. The chapter requires the Government Operations Agency, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop application requirements, designation criteria, and suspension or termination procedures for independent verification organizations — AI auditors the agency designates as having demonstrated expertise in assessing the risks posed by an AI system or model. Section 8898 defines a covered AI audit as one conducted to assess the internal controls, processes, or systems implemented for an AI system or model that are necessary for compliance with state law. The chapter is a qualification route for auditors rather than an audit mandate on deployers or developers, and the Legislative Counsel's Digest situates it against the published-framework duty the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act places on large frontier developers.

Related: Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA)

Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov