The process also highlighted the stakes for the top Democrats involved: Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential contender, and the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, who carried more ambitious AI legislation last year that Newsom vetoed, but now has his sights set more squarely on replacing former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The motivations of the players, as well as the tight timeframe to turn around the legislation, underscores the weight of the law’s potential consequences for the lucrative AI industry within the state, estimated to contribute billions to California’s coffers each year: The law will require major AI companies to disclose their safety protocols while offering whistleblowers protections, and is being watched by lawmakers in other states as setting a potential national standard.

“We’ve publicly said many times, obviously the preference is a federal framework,” Jack Clark, co-founder and policy head of OpenAIChatGPT rival Anthropic, told POLITICO. “This is a chance to do something at the state level, which would then give us a template for something federal that everyone wants.”

POLITICO spoke with nearly a dozen people in and around the negotiations to get inside the rooms where California’s landmark AI law, SB 53, was crafted, many of whom were granted anonymity to disclose private discussions. The conversations paint the most vivid picture yet of how the tech companies formed alliances and pushed negotiations with Wiener to the last ticks of the legislative clock.

Each player faced different pressures this time around that made the law feel more urgent, but also made getting it across the finish line a real possibility.

For Newsom, with an eye increasingly shifting to a likely White House run, remaining close with deep-pocketed tech donors — some of whom are close friends — was key. Signing the bill helped head off accusations he had done nothing amid mounting public scrutiny of AI and headlining-grabbing lawsuits alleging chatbots like ChatGPT contributed to teen suicides.

After vetoing Wiener’s first bill, Newsom set up a panel of experts to report on AI safety recommendations, offering the governor a way to guide more modest legislation and still credibly claim a win on landmark AI rules without alienating tech.

Newsom’s move in turn left Wiener little choice but to adapt from Newsom’s expert report, which the state senator did: He knew he couldn’t go as far as last year if he wanted to claim victory on the major AI safety measure. He also could ill afford to wait another year, with the midterms looming where he could make a run for the House should Pelosi step aside, as well as lingering promises by Republicans in Washington to freeze state AI laws.

“The thing that was very meaningfully different is, we know [Wiener’s] office started from a greater point of attempting to sort of reach out to industry,” Clark said.

State Sen. Scott Wiener has his sights set on replacing former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. | Eric Risberg/AP

The dynamics were also different for tech companies, facing public pressure over how th