California AB 33 (Autonomous Vehicles 2024)

• Authority: California
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-09-09

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Increased inequality and decline in employment
• Governance failure
• Lack of capability or robustness

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Competitive dynamics
• Environmental harm
• Multi-agent risks

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document primarily addresses socioeconomic risks related to employment displacement (6.2), competitive dynamics in AV deployment (6.4), governance frameworks (6.5), and AI system safety concerns (7.3). It also touches on human-computer interaction risks through overreliance concerns (5.1) and multi-agent risks from AV interactions (7.6). Coverage is concentrated in socioeconomic, governance, and system safety domains.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector, specifically autonomous vehicle operations for commercial goods delivery. It also has implications for the Information sector (AV technology companies) and involves consultation with multiple government sectors for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding California state statute with mandatory prohibitions, administrative fines for violations, and enforcement authority granted to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: California State Legislature; The people of the State of California
• Summary: The document is enacted by the California State Legislature as indicated by the opening phrase 'The people of the State of California do enact as follows' and the legislative findings and declarations in Section 1.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Deployer, AI_Developer
• Entities: autonomous vehicle manufacturers; motor carriers operating autonomous vehicles for commercial goods delivery
• Summary: The law targets entities that deploy autonomous vehicles for commercial goods delivery, specifically autonomous vehicle manufacturers who can have permits suspended or revoked, and motor carriers who require permits to transport property for compensation.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: California Department of Motor Vehicles; Department of the California Highway Patrol
• Summary: The Department of Motor Vehicles is explicitly designated as the enforcement authority with power to impose fines, suspend or revoke permits, and administer the chapter. The California Highway Patrol is consulted on enforcement-related matters.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: California Department of Motor Vehicles; Department of the California Highway Patrol; Labor and Workforce Development Agency; Department of Transportation; State Air Resources Board; California State Legislature
• Summary: The Department of Motor Vehicles is required to monitor AV performance and submit a comprehensive report by 2031. Multiple state agencies must provide information and consultation for this monitoring effort. The Legislature will conduct oversight hearings based on the report.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily governs the deployment and operational monitoring stages of autonomous vehicle systems. It establishes requirements for human safety operators during deployment and mandates comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of AV performance through 2031, including tracking of disengagements, crashes, and impacts on safety and employment.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems
• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly focuses on autonomous vehicles and autonomous vehicle technology as AI systems. It does not mention AI models, foundation models, generative AI, or compute thresholds. The scope is limited to task-specific AI systems (autonomous vehicles) deployed for commercial goods delivery.