California Legislature Passes First-in-the-Nation AI Chatbot Safeguards
SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 243, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). SB 243, the first-of-its-kind in the nation, would require chatbot operators to implement critical, reasonable, and attainable safeguards around interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and provide families with a private right to pursue legal actions against noncompliant and negligent developers.
The bill now moves to Governor Newsom’s desk on the same day the Federal Trade Commission announced it launched an investigation into seven tech companies around potential harms their artificial intelligence chatbots could cause to children and teenagers.
“This technology can be a powerful educational and research tool, but left to their own devices the Tech Industry is incentivized to capture young people’s attention and hold it at the expense of their real world relationships,” said Senator Padilla on the Senate Floor just before the bill’s passage. “These companies have the ability to lead the world in innovation, but it is our responsibility to ensure it doesn’t come at the expense of our children’s health.”
The dangers of chatbots have become apparent as stories of disastrous outcomes mount in the media. In Florida last year, a 14-year-old child ended his life after forming a romantic, sexual, and emotional relationship with a chatbot. Social chatbots are marketed as companions to people who are lonely or depressed. However, when 14-year-old Sewell Setzer communicated to his AI companion that he was struggling, the bot was unable to respond with empathy or the resources necessary to ensure Setzer received the help that he needed. Setzer’s mother has initiated legal action against the company that created the chatbot, claiming that not only did the company use addictive design features and inappropriate subject matter to lure in her son, but that the bot encouraged him to “come home” just seconds before he ended his life.
Earlier this year, Senator Padilla held a press conference with Megan Garcia, the mother of Sewell Setzer, in which they called for the passage of SB 243. Ms. Garcia also testified at multiple hearings in support of the bill.
Sadly, Sewell’s story is not the only tragic example of the harms unregulated chatbots can cause. There have been many troubling examples of how AI chatbots’ interactions can prove dangerous.
Last month, after learning of the tragic story of Adam Raine, the California teen that ended his life after being allegedly encouraged to by ChatGPT, California State Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), penned a letter to every member of the California State Legislature, reemphasizing the importance of safeguards around this powerful technology.
SB 243 would implement common-sense guardrails for companion chatbots, including preventing chatbots from exposing minors to sexual content, requiring notifications and reminders for minors that chatbots are AI-generated, and a disclosure statement that companion chatbots may not be suitable for minor users. This bill would also require operators of a companion chatbot platform to implement a protocol for addressing suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm, including but not limited to a notification that refers users to crisis service providers and require annual reporting on the connection between chatbot use and suicidal ideation to help get a more complete picture of how chatbots can impact users’ mental health. Finally, SB 243 would provide a remedy to exercise the rights laid out in the measure via a private right of action.
SB 243 is supported by online safety advocacy groups and has received bipartisan support throughout its journey through the Legislature.
“The Transparency Coalition thanks Senator Padilla and his team, as well as members of the California Legislature for the successful passage of this critically important and timely legislation,” said Rob Eleveld and Jai Jaisimha, Co-Founders, Transparency Coalition. “We hope that Governor Newsom will speedily sign this bill and make the children of California safer from the harms resulting from Companion AI chatbots.”
To learn more about Senate Bill 243 and the dangers chatbots can pose, click here.
Senate Bill 243 passed the Senate with bipartisan support by a vote of 33 to 3 and passed in the Assembly last night with bipartisan support by a vote of 59 to 1. The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk.
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Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/