Executive Order N-9-26 is a three-page order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on 18 September 2026, attested by Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, and effective immediately. Its operative portion runs to sixteen recitals, an ordering clause, three numbered paragraphs, a filing direction and a no-rights clause. The order binds two state bodies — the Government Operations Agency and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services — and imposes no obligation on any private party. For the order's place in California's regulatory sequence, see California Executive Order N-9-26 (independent verification and frontier AI safety).
Operative provisions
Paragraph 1 directs the Government Operations Agency, no later than 1 May 2027, to complete the requirements of Government Code Section 8898.1 and to "develop application requirements, procedures, and criteria for independent verification organizations and publicly post them, as required by law."
Paragraph 2 directs the agency, no later than 1 December 2027, to complete the requirements of Government Code Section 11549.82(a) and "begin taking the actions required by subdivision (b) of that Section."
Paragraph 3 directs the agency, in consultation with the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and with national experts, to submit recommendations to the Governor's office no later than 16 November 2026 "addressing the technical feasibility and potential efficacy of amendments to existing state laws regarding AI safety and security, including at least the following":
- (a) requiring that all large frontier developers "embed designated independent verification organizations onsite in their labs to conduct periodic audits and evaluations";
- (b) requiring that the safety frameworks, transparency reports and risk assessments frontier AI companies must file "be independently verified pursuant to standards determined to be adequate by an independent verification organization";
- (c) requiring the creation of a "kill switch" for frontier models, "with the efficacy of the switch verified on an ongoing basis by an independent verification organization";
- (d) updating the definition of critical safety incidents companies must report "to include a range of loss-of-control incidents, covering recently reported incidents from large frontier developers."
The closing clause states that the order "is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person."
Recitals
The recitals assemble four elements. The first is a claim of position: California is "the largest economy in the nation" and hosts "32 of the top 50 private AI companies in the world," while "no state has taken more aggressive action to strengthen the safety, security, and consumer privacy of technology and online platforms, including AI."
The second is a sequence of prior California actions — Executive Order N-12-23 of 6 September 2023 on state use of AI and the procurement guidelines, impact guidance, workforce reports and pilots issued under it; the expert group on frontier AI guardrails convened in 2024, whose report the recitals date to June 2025; Senate Bill 53, signed in 2025 and described as having taken effect "this year"; Executive Order N-5-26 of 30 March 2026 on AI procurement and adoption; and legislation signed "earlier this month" establishing "a first-in-the-nation framework for certifying independent verification organizations." Neither bill in that last pair is named in the order.
The third is the stated occasion: "revelations of multiple instances of apparent attempts by individuals to use AI products to create bioweapons and AI agents working, at times independently and at times collectively, to defeat security protocols that AI companies had put in place and working, in some instances undetected for months, to hack other companies, and other behavior that raises grave concerns about potential threats to public safety." The order records that these "have prompted many Americans and some within the AI industry, including company leaders, to call on the industry to pace the development of AI systems and models and invite more stringent regulations by government" — the argument advanced in We Must Pace the Frontier (Amodei, September 2026) and compared at Coordinated slowdown proposals compared. No incident, company or platform is named.
The fourth is federal inaction, which the final recital attributes to "a failure of leadership by the President and Congressional leaders," concluding that California "will continue to lead by taking action to swiftly implement our existing laws around AI security and risks and develop a roadmap for further strengthening our nation-leading laws." A separate recital states an interest in "reviewing and updating, as needed, existing protections and exploring other tools for more broadly sharing the economic benefits with workers in industries and businesses impacted by AI and other emerging technologies."
How the signed text differs from accounts of it
The order was reported on 18 September 2026 through the Governor's announcement and through The Verge. Six divergences between those accounts and the signed text bear on claims elsewhere in the record.
| Reported | In the signed text |
|---|---|
| The order directs acceleration of "SB 813 (McNerney) and AB 1405 (Bauer-Kahan)" | Neither bill nor either author appears. Paragraphs 1 and 2 operate on Government Code Sections 8898.1 and 11549.82, the chapters those laws added |
| The fourth study item covers "loss-of-control incidents such as the Hugging Face attack" | Paragraph 3(d) names no incident, company or platform |
| The order requires embedded auditors, verification, a kill switch and an expanded incident definition | All four are subjects on which the agency must report on "technical feasibility and potential efficacy"; each would require legislation |
| Recommendations due "within two months" | The stated deadline is 16 November 2026 |
| Acceleration described without a baseline | SB 813 as chaptered set 1 January 2028 for the Section 8898.1 duties; AB 1405 ran its registry from 1 January 2029. The order sets 1 May 2027 and 1 December 2027 |
| SB 53 and the 2025 expert report cited as named authorities | SB 53 is named but not chaptered; the June 2025 report is recited without its title |
Provenance
Captured on 19 September 2026 from the signed PDF at the Governor's own upload directory on gov.ca.gov, returned as a three-page application/pdf at the path recorded in the 18 September 2026 digest. The face of the document carries "Executive Department, State of California," the order number, the Great Seal recital, the date "this 18th day of September 2026," and the attestation of the Secretary of State. The Governor's announcement of the same date and The Verge's report of the same date corroborate the order's existence and content, and the two code sections the order cites match the enacted texts of SB 813 (Chapter 179) and AB 1405 (Chapter 178) held in Raw Sources/. The capture is complete; a string reading "Mr. Miller" appears on the signature page of the PDF as an extraction artifact of the signature graphic and is not text of the order.
Relationships
- supports: California Executive Order N-9-26 (independent verification and frontier AI safety) — the primary text underlying that page.
- depends-on: California SB 813 (AI independent verification organizations) — supplies the Government Code § 8898.1 duty whose deadline paragraph 1 advances.
- depends-on: California AB 1405 (AI auditor registry) — supplies the Government Code § 11549.82 duties whose deadlines paragraph 2 advances.
- related: California SB 53 — the filings paragraph 3(b) would subject to independent verification.
- related: California Executive Order N-5-26 (Trusted AI Procurement) — the March 2026 procurement order the recitals cite.
- related: Independent Verification Organizations (IVOs) — the institution the order accelerates and would extend onsite.
- related: State-Level AI Regulation, Techno-Federalism — state executive action framed against federal inaction.
- related: Coordinated slowdown proposals compared — the pacing argument the recitals invoke.
- supports: California SB 813 — enrolled text (Chapter 179, 2026) — the statutory baseline against which the order's acceleration is measured.