Newsom Killed America's First Smart-Glasses Privacy Law
PRIVACY Newsom Killed America's First Smart-Glasses Privacy Law California's governor spent the week playing tech sheriff — banning AI-only firings, bankrolling quantum research — then quietly vetoed the nation's first crackdown on secret smart-glasses recording. His excuse: the bill was too badly written to sign. Published October 2, 2026 · By Daniel Rao Photo: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 smart glasses with their charging case. More than seven million pairs of Meta's smart glasses were sold last year alone. (CCadio / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0) Gavin Newsom has had a strange week. On Wednesday, the California governor signed California's first-in-the-nation ban on AI-only firings , dropped into a quantum lab at UC Berkeley to announce $30 million for deep-space and quantum research — and then, in the same day's paperwork, vetoed the strongest privacy bill Silicon Valley has ever faced. One pen, one Wednesday, opposite directions. Had it survived, Senate B...