CaliforniaCompanion chatbots: children's safety.
What it does
Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including companion chatbots, as defined. Existing law requires an operator, as defined, to prevent a companion chatbot on its companion chatbot platform from engaging with users unless the operator maintains a protocol for preventing the production of suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm content to the user. Existing law requires an operator, for a user the operator knows is a minor, to, among other things, notify the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence and to disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors, as specified.
More detail
The Digital Age Assurance Act requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched.
This bill would require an operator, as defined, of a companion chatbot to, on or before July 1, 2027, do various things with respect to child safety and companion chatbots, including annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk, as defined, posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm, as defined, occurring to child users. The bill would require an operator to submit to an independent audit of its compliance with those provisions, as specified, and would require, within 90 days of completing an independent audit, the auditor to submit an AI child safety audit report to the Attorney General for any audited companion chatbot. The bill would, except as specified, require those audit reports to be kept confidential.
This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, require the Attorney General to issue an annual public report on the audits submitted pursuant to the above-described provision, as specified. The bill would authorize a public prosecutor to bring a certain civil action to enforce the bill's provisions and would authorize a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation of this chapter, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of that child, to bring a civil action against the operator to obtain, among other relief, punitive damages.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Aug 30Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Padilla.Latest
- Aug 13Read second time. Ordered to third reading.Minor
- Vote recorded Do pass. Result: pass.Upper
- Aug 13From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 13).Minor
- Aug 3In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.Minor
- Vote recorded Placed on suspense file. Result: pass.Upper
- Jun 24From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.Minor
- Jun 23
- Vote recorded Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]. Result: pass.Upper
- Jun 17Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.Major
- Jun 16From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (June 15).Major
- Jun 15
- Vote recorded Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Judiciary]. Result: pass.Upper
- Jun 3Referred to Coms. on P., D.T., & C.P. and JUD.Minor
- May 27In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.Minor
- May 26Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 8. Page 5307.)Passed Assembly
- Vote recorded AB 2023 Wicks Assembly Third Reading. Result: pass.Lower
- May 18Read second time. Ordered to third reading.Minor
- May 14From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (May 14).Minor
- Vote recorded Do pass. Result: pass.Lower
- May 14Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 5030.)
- May 13In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.Minor
- Apr 28Re-referred to Com. on APPR.Minor
- Apr 27Read second time and amended.Major
- Apr 23From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 2.) (April 21).Major
- Apr 21
- Vote recorded Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]. Result: pass.Lower
- Apr 14Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.Minor
- Apr 13From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.Major
- Apr 13In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- Mar 26Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.Minor
- Mar 25From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.Major
- Mar 23Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.Minor
- Mar 19From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.Major
- Mar 19Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.Minor
- Feb 18From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.
- Feb 17Read first time. To print.Introduced