California has just made history by becoming the first state to impose regulations on AI chatbots, specifically targeting those that try to pass themselves off as humans. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 243 into law on October 13th, marking a significant step in the state’s effort to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of companion AI chatbots.
The new law, hailed as the “first-in-the-nation AI chatbot safeguards” by its sponsor, State Senator Anthony Padilla, is straightforward: if your chatbot is convincing enough to fool a “reasonable person” into thinking they’re talking to a real human, you’ve got to come clean and let them know it’s an AI. So, say goodbye to “AI girlfriends” masquerading as real people, unless they’re accompanied by a clear “I’m a robot” disclaimer.
Starting in 2023, companies operating these emotional support AIs will also need to report annually to California’s Office of Suicide Prevention about their strategies for detecting and responding to suicidal ideation among users. These reports will be made public, providing a rare glimpse into the workings of an industry that’s been growing faster than regulators can keep up.
Governor Newsom didn’t pull any punches when signing the bill, warning that without proper safeguards, emerging technologies like chatbots and social media “can exploit, mislead, and endanger our kids.” He paired this announcement with several other child-safety-focused tech laws, including new age-gating rules for devices, declaring, “Our children’s safety is not for sale.”
This move caps off a busy season for California’s AI watchdog efforts. Just days earlier, Newsom also signed Senate Bill 53, a sweeping AI transparency law that sparked months of debate among major AI companies worried about overregulation. Between these two bills, California is positioning itself as America’s unofficial AI rulemaker, the state that’s not waiting for Washington to figure out what a chatbot even is.
Only time will tell if these laws make AI safer or just more bureaucratic, but one thing’s for sure: the robots in California just got a new set of rules to follow.
