AI Frontier Institute

Artificial intelligence: auditors: registration.

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California Assembly Bill 1405 (Chapter 178), signed September 9, 2026, adds Chapter 5.9.5 (Sections 11549.80–11549.86) to the Government Code to create a registration system for AI auditors. The Government Operations Agency must establish an AI Auditor Registry on its website by January 1, 2029, fix annual registration fees at no more than the cost of administration, and create a public mechanism for reporting auditor misconduct (Section 11549.82). Beginning January 1, 2029, no person may offer, sell, or conduct a 'covered AI audit', defined in Section 11549.80(d) as an audit assessing internal controls, processes, or systems for an AI system or model that are necessary for compliance with state law, without being registered (Section 11549.82.5). Registered auditors must file business information, the California laws under which they audit, certifications held, and a standard operating procedure referencing recognized standards such as those from ISO, NIST, or auditing and assurance standard-setters (Section 11549.83(a)), and must give auditees a report covering scope, results, deficiencies and recommended remedies, limitations, and a signed statement of compliance (Section 11549.83(d)(1)). Auditors must meet independence, objectivity, and integrity standards: no financial, business, or employment interest that would impair independence (reasonable audit fees excepted), no auditing of their own work, no seeking employment with an auditee during an engagement, and no assigning staff who had material responsibility at the auditee within the preceding 12 months (Section 11549.83(f)). Registration numbers must appear on advertising (Section 11549.83.5); auditors may not block or retaliate against employees who report noncompliance (Section 11549.83(g)); records must be kept ten years. The Agency may investigate complaints, and violations are grounds for removal from the registry and referral to the Attorney General (Section 11549.84). An AI Auditors' Registration Fund holds the fees (Section 11549.81). Licensed CPAs and accounting firms regulated by the California Board of Accountancy are deemed to satisfy the reporting and independence requirements when they follow the California Accountancy Act and AICPA standards, and complaints against them go to the Board (Sections 11549.83(d)(2), 11549.83(f)(2), 11549.84(b)). Registration is not a state endorsement (Section 11549.86). Executive Order N-9-26 (September 18, 2026) directs the Agency to have the registry operating by December 1, 2027; the statutory registration mandate date of January 1, 2029 is unchanged.

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