Newsom Places California AI Kill Switch Beneath Giant Glass Dome

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday placed California’s first official artificial-intelligence kill switch beneath a giant glass dome in the Capitol rotunda, where it will remain available for immediate use during designated state business hours.

The button, roughly the size of a wedding cake and painted the legally required shade of Emergency Red, was installed after Newsom ordered California officials to develop stronger oversight of advanced AI systems, including a possible emergency shutoff mechanism. A brass plaque beside the device warns visitors not to press it “except in the event of a verified frontier-model situation, or while dusting.”

“California will not wait until technology becomes too powerful to manage,” Newsom said, standing beside the dome as a state employee slowly removed a velvet rope from around a second velvet rope. “We are building a future in which every powerful machine knows there is a button somewhere in Sacramento, protected by three layers of tempered glass and a very attentive docent.”

The switch may only be activated after two cabinet secretaries, an independent verification organization, and the chair of the newly formed Emergency Button Accessibility Working Group agree that an AI has become dangerous enough to require a response. The group’s first meeting has been scheduled for 2029, pending room availability.

State officials initially expected the button to be used for rogue AI systems attempting to seize control of power grids, financial markets, or public-facing government chatbots. But the Department of General Services soon issued guidance clarifying that the button could not be pressed until technicians determine whether the AI is actually rogue, merely disruptive, or “operating with the confidence of a paid consultant.”

The complication emerged during a demonstration, when the kill switch’s own biometric lock rejected every official in the room for appearing insufficiently calm. Engineers then added a second, smaller button labeled “REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO REMAIN CALM,” which opens a digital form asking applicants to describe the emergency in 500 words or fewer.

Technology companies have welcomed the installation, particularly after learning that the button’s activation requires a 14-day public-comment period unless the emergency has already been classified as urgent by the Office of Urgency Classification.

By late afternoon, the dome had become one of the Capitol’s most popular attractions. Visitors were permitted to take photographs beside it, though no one may touch the glass after a legislative aide accidentally triggered a pop-up questionnaire asking whether California had considered the economic impact of ending civilization.

The state has already ordered a backup kill switch, officials said, to be used if the first kill switch’s approval process becomes self-aware.