By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Perplexity)
Editor
[Also see Dec 2025, Nov 2025, Oct 2025, Aug 2025]
The three biggest AI stories in the world for September 2025 are: (1) the advancement of California’s “Frontier Model” AI safety bill, (2) a federal judge’s rejection of Anthropic’s massive copyright settlement, and (3) Google’s expansion of AI Mode search to new languages. Each reflects a major inflection point in AI governance, legal risk, and global application. (Also see Three Biggest AI Stories in August 2025.)
California’s Frontier Model AI Safety Bill Advances
California’s “Frontier Model” AI safety bill (SB 53) reached its final legislative vote in early September 2025, signaling a push for state-level regulation of advanced, large-scale AI systems. This bill mandates safety disclosures, incident reporting, and whistleblower protections for developers of the most powerful AI models—those expected to impact critical infrastructure and public safety.
The bill’s momentum comes amid rising concern over AI-induced risks, from misinformation to economic disruption. After months of amendment (in response to industry lobbying and the Governor’s office), SB 53 now incorporates best practices from both technical experts and public advocates. Politically, California leads the U.S. and potentially the world in formalizing guardrails beyond voluntary industry pledges.
This new regulatory blueprint may become the model for other states (and possibly federal legislation). Experts predict mandatory transparency, real-time incident reporting, and structural whistleblower protection could soon become industry norms. Public feedback is mixed: some welcome the accountability, while others warn of regulatory overreach that could stifle innovation. Regardless, the bill’s progress expresses a growing global recognition of the need to balance AI advancement with safety, ethics, and public trust.aimagazine
Judge Rejects Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement
On September 8, 2025, a federal judge rejected a landmark $1.5 billion settlement proposal between Anthropic and a group of authors, raising key questions about copyright, fair use, and AI training data. The lawsuit focused on Anthropic’s alleged use of hundreds of thousands of pirated books to train its Claude models.
The rejection was based on concerns about fairness and sufficiency—not merely the amount, but the precedents it could set for the entire AI industry. The judge called for new hearings, highlighting the unsettled nature of legal responsibility for the use of copyrighted works in AI training.
The decision extends legal uncertainty for leading AI developers and signals intense judicial scrutiny for any future agreements. Publishers, authors, and AI companies must now prepare for stricter standards, likely requiring more transparency, opt-in mechanisms, and perhaps new forms of licensing or compensation. Analysts expect this ruling will slow the pace of AI model development, force more comprehensive settlements, and accelerate global debate about the future of intellectual property in AI.aimagazine
Google Expands AI Mode Search to Multiple New Languages
On September 8, 2025, Google announced that its AI-powered search “AI Mode” now supports five new languages: Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. This expansion—beyond months of English-only service—brings powerful conversational and search capabilities to tens of millions of new users across Asia and Latin America.
The move signals Google’s commitment to global accessibility, as well as the intensifying race between U.S. and Chinese tech giants to dominate multilingual AI. The technical challenge lies in ensuring high-quality, culturally nuanced responses for languages with fewer resources or unique social contexts.
Early reactions highlight both the promise and risks of globalizing generative AI. While broader access is widely welcomed and expected to fuel innovation and education, critics emphasize the urgency of addressing biases and maintaining accuracy—particularly in low-resource languages and contexts where AI-driven search may not yet be fully robust. Google now faces the ongoing dual challenge of scaling up while monitoring for quality and fairness at unprecedented scale.aimagazine
References (APA Style)
- The AI Track. (2025, September 13). AI News September 2025: In-depth and concise. https://theaitrack.com/ai-news-september-2025-in-depth-and-concise/
- Champaign Magazine. (2025, September 13). AI by AI Weekly Top 5, September 8–14, 2025. https://champaignmagazine.com/2025/09/14/ai-by-ai-weekly-top-5-september-8-14-2022025/
- https://aimagazine.com/news/this-weeks-top-5-stories-in-ai-08-august-2025
- https://champaignmagazine.com/2025/09/14/ai-by-ai-weekly-top-5-september-8-14-2025/
- https://www.raconteur.net/technology/ai-scrollytelling
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- https://theaitrack.com/ai-news-september-2025-in-depth-and-concise/
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- https://towardsai.net/p/artificial-intelligence/2025s-biggest-ai-shocks-4-breakthroughs-that-changed-everything
- https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ai-today-in-5-september-17-2025-the-w-94401/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-ai-news-weekly-september-8th-12th-2025-week-lozovsky-mba-8bxwc
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cLd9QPKeQ
- https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtificialInteligence/comments/1nj3rne/oneminute_daily_ai_news_9162025/
- https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2025/09/technology-impact.html
- https://ashexplained.com/ai-news-this-week-september-2025/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/learning/over-100-free-new-york-times-articles-about-how-ai-is-changing-our-world.html
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-developments-week-september-1-7-2025-jitendra-kumar-yzx6f
- https://www.fintechfutures.com/ai-in-fintech/august-2025-top-five-ai-stories-of-the-month
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Prompt: Perplexity, what are the three biggest AI stories in the world in August 2025? For each story, write a 500-word explanation for your choice. Append a list of references, in APA style, that informed your choices. (100225=341)
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