# CalCompute

> The public resource on the CalCompute Framework: the Consortium writing it, its research and its results. It is not the site of any cloud service.

CalCompute is California's plan for a public cloud computing cluster, giving the state's researchers the computing power to build AI that is safe, ethical, equitable and sustainable. California Senate Bill 53 (Chapter 138, 2025) establishes a consortium within the Government Operations Agency (GovOps) to develop a framework for creating it, directs reasonable efforts to establish it within the University of California, and requires a framework report to the Legislature by January 1, 2027. CalCompute has not been built or opened to users. This site covers the framework for it and is not the site of any cloud service.

CaliforniaCompute.org is published by an independent, volunteer coalition that researches the framework elements and advocates for CalCompute. It is not a state agency and does not speak for one.

Key Facts:

- CalCompute was first publicly unveiled on September 13, 2023 in SB 294, the Safety in Artificial Intelligence Act, introduced by state Senator Scott Wiener
- CalCompute was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29, 2025
- The framework report is due to the Legislature by January 1, 2027
- The statute provides for members to be appointed by the Secretary of Government Operations, the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee
- The statutory purpose is to advance AI that is safe, ethical, equitable and sustainable by fostering research that benefits the public and expanding access to computational resources
- [Daniel Romo](https://californiacompute.org/team/daniel-romo.md) organizes the volunteer coalition behind this site.

## Who does the research

The coalition's research on the seven framework elements is done by faculty and staff across the University of California and by partners outside it, including people who operate existing shared research computing in California: the National Research Platform, the CENIC AI Resource and the NSF-funded CENVAL-ARC regional hub that UC Merced runs with three California State University campuses. Partner organizations span universities and research centers, nonprofits and civil society, and industry. See [The Consortium](https://californiacompute.org/#team) and [Team](https://californiacompute.org/team).

## Key Pages

In the order the homepage runs:

- [About](https://californiacompute.org/#about): What CalCompute is, and why now. The problem (California's research institutions are being priced out of frontier AI), why now (New York has already built shared computing for its universities through Empire AI), who is behind it, what it means for universities and labs, state government and philanthropy, and how to back it.
- [The Consortium](https://californiacompute.org/#team): The researchers developing a framework for the creation of California's public cloud computing cluster, and its members.
- [Framework](https://californiacompute.org/#framework): The seven elements of the CalCompute Framework Report the Consortium must address, each with the statutory sentence that defines it.
- [Timeline](https://californiacompute.org/#timeline): The record of CalCompute from SB 294 in September 2023 through the SB 53 signing in September 2025 to the framework report due in January 2027, with every transcribed source document on it.
- [FAQ](https://californiacompute.org/#faq): Short answers to what CalCompute is, who is writing the framework, what the Framework Report is, who CalCompute is for, whether it will consume public water and how to get involved. The answers are repeated in full below.
- [Get involved](https://californiacompute.org/#join): One email to start. Ways to contribute: research, telling us your need, lending compute or data, writing or design, partnership and funding the research.
- [Digital Public Infrastructure](https://californiacompute.org/digital-public-infrastructure): What digital public infrastructure (DPI) is and why CalCompute would be California's digital public infrastructure for AI.
- [Institutions](https://californiacompute.org/institutions): California's colleges and universities with a 2025 Carnegie research designation, by tier, and the three national laboratories.
- [Articles](https://californiacompute.org/articles): Op-eds, research summaries, progress updates and explainers on the CalCompute Framework.
- [Team](https://californiacompute.org/team): The people behind the CalCompute Framework: legislators, researchers, advocates and Consortium members.

## Frequently asked questions

These are the homepage FAQ's answers, word for word.

**What is CalCompute?**
CalCompute is California's plan for a public cloud computing cluster, called for in Senate Bill 53 and signed in September 2025, giving the state's researchers the computing power to build AI that is safe, ethical, equitable and sustainable. The law calls for a consortium to write the framework for creating it, the work the CalCompute Consortium is doing now.

**Who is writing the CalCompute framework?**
The CalCompute Consortium, formed in May 2026 and made up of the kinds of member the law names for the work: representatives of research institutions and national laboratories, experts in technology and artificial intelligence, ethicists and public interest advocates. It is open to anyone with a stake in public AI.

**What is the CalCompute Framework Report?**
The plan the law requires for creating and operating CalCompute. Its seven elements cover California's existing cloud infrastructure, its cost and how to fund it, its governance, who may use it, the state's technology work force, partnerships with nongovernmental entities and the public sector work force. Our consortium is writing it now and publishes its research as it goes.

**Who is CalCompute for?**
Startups and academic researchers, in the bill's author's words, and more broadly research and innovation that benefits the public, which is the purpose the law sets. Exactly who may use it, and how projects are chosen, is one of the seven elements our consortium is writing into the Framework Report now.

**Will CalCompute consume public water?**
The law requires the framework to advance AI that is safe, ethical, equitable and sustainable, and much of California is arid. We are studying cooling methods that do not evaporate water, and working with manufacturers of atmospheric water generators on whether a data center can return more water to its community than it draws.

**How do I get involved with CalCompute?**
Email team@CaliforniaCompute.org. The work is open to everyone. Researchers can take on one of the seven framework elements, institutions can tell us what they need, partners can lend compute or data, and writers and designers can help publish the work. No University of California affiliation or prior experience is required.

## The CalCompute Consortium

The members shown on the homepage, in the order they appear there.

- [Frank Würthwein](https://californiacompute.org/team/frank-wurthwein.md), UC San Diego
- [Kim Hazelwood](https://californiacompute.org/team/kim-hazelwood.md), Empire AI
- [Anthony Suen](https://californiacompute.org/team/anthony-suen.md), UC Berkeley
- [Kevin Michael Esterling](https://californiacompute.org/team/kevin-michael-esterling.md), UC Riverside
- [Sarvani Chadalapaka](https://californiacompute.org/team/sarvani-chadalapaka.md), UC Merced
- [Lili Gangas](https://californiacompute.org/team/lili-gangas.md), Kapor Center
- [Stephanie Lieggi](https://californiacompute.org/team/stephanie-lieggi.md), UC Santa Cruz
- [Leilani H. Gilpin](https://californiacompute.org/team/leilani-gilpin.md), UC Santa Cruz
- [Ruby Guillen](https://californiacompute.org/team/ruby-guillen.md), UNA-USA
- [Lawrence Wagner](https://californiacompute.org/team/lawrence-wagner.md), BASE (Black in AI Safety & Ethics)
- [JT Nelson](https://californiacompute.org/team/jt-nelson.md), SoCal Blender Group
- [Andrew W. Reddie](https://californiacompute.org/team/andrew-reddie.md), UC Berkeley

## Primary Source Documents of CalCompute

- [Senate Bill No. 53, full bill text](https://californiacompute.org/documents/sb-53-bill-text.md): Complete text of California SB-53, Chapter 138, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, including the statutory language establishing CalCompute.
- [Governor Newsom's SB-53 Signing Message](https://californiacompute.org/documents/SB-53-Signing-Message.md): Governor Gavin Newsom's official signing message for SB-53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, explaining his rationale for signing the bill into law on September 29, 2025.
- [Governor's SB-53 Signing Press Release](https://californiacompute.org/documents/governor-sb53-signing-press-release.md): Official press release announcing Governor Newsom's signing of SB-53, advancing California's world-leading artificial intelligence industry.
- [Assembly Privacy Committee Analysis of SB 53](https://californiacompute.org/documents/sb53-apcp-analysis-september-2025.md): Final Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis of SB-53, evaluating the expanded bill ahead of the September 11 hearing and passage to the Governor.
- [Senator Wiener's Press Release on the SB-53 Expansion](https://californiacompute.org/documents/wiener-sb53-expansion-press-release.md): Senator Wiener expands SB-53 into a landmark transparency measure based on recommendations of the Governor's AI working group.
- [Assembly Privacy Committee Analysis of SB 53](https://californiacompute.org/documents/sb53-apcp-analysis-july-2025.md): Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis of SB-53 prepared ahead of Senator Wiener's expansion of the bill into a landmark transparency measure.
- [California Report on Frontier AI Policy](https://californiacompute.org/documents/ca-frontier-ai-policy-report.md): Report from the Governor's AI working group on frontier AI policy, providing expert and academic recommendations that informed SB-53's final provisions, including the CalCompute Consortium structure.
- [Senate Judiciary Committee Analysis of SB 53](https://californiacompute.org/documents/sb53-sjud-analysis.md): California Senate Judiciary Committee analysis of SB-53, covering proposed AI whistleblower protections and the CalCompute public computing consortium.
- [Governor's AI Working Group Press Release](https://californiacompute.org/documents/governor-ai-working-group-press-release.md): Press release announcing the Governor's AI working group report, strengthening California's position as the global AI leader with new recommendations issued by experts and academics.
- [Senator Wiener Introduces the Safety in Artificial Intelligence Act (SB 294)](https://californiacompute.org/documents/sb294-safety-in-ai-announcement.md): The September 13, 2023 press release unveiling SB 294, the first public description of CalCompute, proposed as a cloud-based compute cluster for AI researchers and smaller developers housed in California's public university system.

## Key People

- [Governor Gavin Newsom](https://californiacompute.org/team/gavin-newsom.md): Signed SB-53 into Law.
- [Senator Scott Wiener](https://californiacompute.org/team/scott-wiener.md): Wrote Senate Bill 53.
- [Jennifer Tour Chayes](https://californiacompute.org/team/jennifer-tour-chayes.md): Led the "California Report on Frontier AI Policy".
- [Daniel Romo](https://californiacompute.org/team/daniel-romo.md): UC Riverside representative to CalCompute; early organizer advancing CalCompute as digital public infrastructure after SB-53 was signed.
- [Arlen Kumar](https://californiacompute.org/team/arlen-kumar.md): AI researcher with CalCompute, based at UC Berkeley; works on the research and public case for CalCompute.
- [Ruby Guillen](https://californiacompute.org/team/ruby-guillen.md): Co-Chair on Human Rights to the United States for the United Nations Association.
- [Kevin Michael Esterling](https://californiacompute.org/team/kevin-michael-esterling.md)
- [Leilani H. Gilpin](https://californiacompute.org/team/leilani-gilpin.md)
- [Stephanie Lieggi](https://californiacompute.org/team/stephanie-lieggi.md)
- [Pranav Anand](https://californiacompute.org/team/pranav-anand.md)
- [Zac Zimmer](https://californiacompute.org/team/zac-zimmer.md)

## Optional

- [Full reference (llms-full.txt)](https://californiacompute.org/llms-full.txt): Expanded machine-readable reference with canonical facts, primary sources, and clean profiles of CalCompute leads.