SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - ChatGPT developer

OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech

companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from

harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation

about political candidates.

The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by

attention on another California state artificial intelligence

(AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct

safety testing on some of their own models.

That bill has faced a backlash from the tech industry, including

OpenAI, which has Microsoft ( MSFT ) as a backer.

California state lawmakers attempted to introduce 65 bills

touching on AI this legislative season, according to the state's

legislative database, including measures to ensure all

algorithmic decisions are proven unbiased and protect the

intellectual property of deceased individuals from exploitation

by AI companies. Many of the bills are already dead.

San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated

content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as

watermarking are important, especially in an election year,

according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member

Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill.

With countries representing a third of the world's population

having polls this year, experts are concerned about the role

AI-generated content will play, and it has already been

prominent in some elections, such as in Indonesia.

"New technology and standards can help people understand the

origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between

human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content," OpenAI

Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was

reviewed by Reuters.

AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote.

Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations

committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If

it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it

would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept.

30.

(Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by

Muralikumar Anantharaman)