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California bars firing or disciplining workers by AI alone

Newsom signed the No Robo Bosses Act with a dozen other bills on September 30. From July 2027, a human must check any discipline or firing that leans mainly on an automated system, and workers must be told in writing.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 947, the “No Robo Bosses Act”, on September 30, along with 12 other bills his office grouped as AI and worker protections. From July 1, 2027, California employers may not rely solely on an automated decision system to discipline or fire workers. When such a system was the main basis, a human must corroborate the decision, and the worker must get a written notice.

Why it matters

The law does not ban software that scores workers. But it puts a person back into decisions to discipline or fire, and lets workers see the data used about them. It does not cover hiring, and it starts only in July 2027.

4 min read 4 sources

Safety & SecurityOct 1

OpenAI blames Moonshot-linked users for a copying campaign

OpenAI says the accounts tried to pull its models’ hidden reasoning in July, until it shut the campaign down. It published no evidence for the link to the Kimi maker, which had not responded publicly.

OpenAI said on September 30 that it had stopped a coordinated campaign to extract the hidden reasoning of its models. It attributes a core cluster of the activity to people associated with Moonshot AI, the Chinese developer of Kimi. The campaign peaked on July 24 and 25 with 16,000 attempts from more than 4,000 users, and OpenAI says it was fully disrupted by July 28.

3 min read 3 sources

Safety & SecurityOct 1

DeepMind watermarks AI-designed proteins for biosecurity

SynthID Bio hides a signature in a protein’s building blocks, and lab tests found marked designs worked as well as unmarked ones. It could help DNA makers tell designs from trusted AI tools apart from the rest.

Google DeepMind introduced SynthID Bio on September 30, a way to watermark proteins designed by AI without breaking them. In lab tests on three targets, watermarked protein binders matched unwatermarked ones on how often they worked, how tightly they bound and how varied they were, DeepMind says. It is sharing the code, lab data and model weights with researchers.

4 min read 3 sources

Policy & LawOct 1

Connecticut’s AI rules on layoffs and whistleblowers start

From October 1, employers must say whether AI played a part in mass layoffs, and makers of the biggest AI models may not punish staff who warn of catastrophic risks. AI subscriptions and AI-made media get new rules too.

Large parts of Connecticut’s new AI law took effect on October 1. Employers that file mass-layoff notices must now tell the state whether the layoffs relate to their use of AI. Developers of the biggest AI models may not retaliate against staff who report catastrophic risks, and AI subscription services must spell out their limits before customers pay.

4 min read 3 sources

BusinessOct 1

ElevenLabs is now valued at $22 billion after a share sale

Employees sold $300 million of stock at twice February’s valuation, and the company raised no new money. ElevenLabs says businesses now bring in 55% of its revenue, and voice agents are its fastest-growing product.

ElevenLabs, the AI voice company, said on September 30 that a $300 million share sale by employees values it at $22 billion. Wellington and T. Rowe Price led the deal, and investors including EQT, Goldman Sachs and Singapore’s GIC bought in for the first time. The valuation is double the $11 billion of its funding round in February.

3 min read 4 sources

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