- NOVELCITY NEWS | Opinion 

Published: April 13, 2025 | By Wesley Phillippe | NOVELCITY News | Opinion Section

Let’s make one thing clear: regulation is no longer optional.
But let’s make another thing even clearer: regulation must be reimagined.

California’s recent AI policy framework—backed by Governor Newsom’s expert panel—is a meaningful step forward. It seeks balance: innovation on one hand, accountability on the other. That’s the sweet spot where most think tanks love to camp out.

But here’s the truth: balance isn’t what Gen-N is after.
We’re after transformation.

Big Tech Wants Loopholes. Gen-N Wants a Future.

While the tech giants are flooding comment periods with polished wishlists—asking for copyright carve-outs and liability shields—the real innovators are asking something else:

How do we build AI that serves communities, not just shareholders?
How do we ensure creative economies aren't fed to the models that exploit them?
How do we code transparency, justice, and equity into the infrastructure—not as patches, but as principles?

That’s what Gen-N is pushing for. We’re not anti-AI. We’re anti-extraction.
We believe in innovation that uplifts, not undermines.

I Tried Using AI to Protect Myself. It Backfired.

I once used AI to propose edits to a contract. Smart, ethical, efficient—exactly what AI was supposed to enable. But the attorneys on the deal bailed. No discussion. No review. Just gone. They didn’t like that AI was part of the process—even though it improved the deal for all sides.

That moment wasn’t about legal risk. It was about ego.
It exposed what a lot of this debate is really about: insecurity disguised as integrity.
It reminded me that a lot of gatekeeping in AI policy isn’t about safety—it’s about staying in control.

California’s Effort Matters. But It Must Go Further.

Mike Kubzansky is right: California is trying.
Transparency, third-party evaluations, whistleblower protections, and a genuine effort to listen across sectors—these are smart moves.

But listening is only step one. Distribution of power is step two.
If AI policy is going to work, it has to center those who’ve been marginalized by every past tech wave—Black founders, low-income communities, gig workers, underfunded schools, creatives whose content is scraped, sampled, and stolen without credit.

Here’s What Gen-N Expects From AI Governance:

1. Ownership Over Opt-In
We don’t want vague transparency—we want contracts.
If our data, art, likeness, or language trains your model—we need control and compensation.

2. Equity in the Compute Economy
Stop making access to AI infrastructure a luxury item. CalCompute and similar efforts must be expanded nationally. If only the billion-dollar boys have the bandwidth to train, the game is rigged from the start.

3. Protection Without Permission Slips
Whistleblowers shouldn’t need perfect paperwork to be heard. Build legal firewalls before people have to sacrifice careers to tell the truth.

4. Audits We Can Understand
Don’t just open up the model weights—open up the impact.
What communities are harmed? Whose language is biased against? Who can’t get a loan because of your AI?

5. Small Players, Big Voice
Startups, social enterprises, youth researchers, and civic hackers must be at the policy table. We don’t just want to comment on the future—we’re building it.

Final Word from NOVELCITY NEWS

The Golden State may be setting a gold standard. But standards must be shaped by the people—not just the platforms.

Gen-N isn’t waiting on Congress.
We’re not bowing to billionaires.
We’re designing new systems, training ethical models, building policy from the ground up, and demanding that our AI future is one we can live with—and be proud of.

We appreciate the blueprint, California.
Now hand us the keys—we’ve got code to write, justice to build, and futures to protect.

#GenN #AIJustice #AIRegulation #EquityByDesign #BuildDifferent #CaliforniaAI #NOVELCITYNews