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California bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session

California SB 243

Companion chatbots.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Passed House
  5. To Governor
  6. Became law

Sponsors

Cosponsors (6)

Summary

Official abstract published by the California legislature· summary

Existing law requires a social media platform to take various steps to prevent cyberbullying of minors on the platform, including by requiring the platform to establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows any individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service, to report cyberbullying or any content that violates the existing terms of service related to cyberbullying. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to establish the Office of Suicide Prevention in the department, as prescribed. This bill would, among other things related to making a companion chatbot platform safer for users, if a reasonable person interacting with a companion chatbot would be misled to believe that the person is interacting with a human, require an operator of a companion chatbot platform to issue a clear and conspicuous notification indicating that the companion chatbot is artificially generated and not human. The bill would also require an operator to take certain actions with respect to a user the operator knows is a minor, including disclose to the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence. The bill would also require an operator 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, as specified, and would require an operator to publish details on that protocol on the operator's internet website. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2027, require an operator to annually report to the Office of Suicide Prevention certain things, including protocols put in place to detect, remove, and respond to instances of suicidal ideation by users, and would require the office to post data from that report on its internet website. The bill would authorize a person who suffers injury in fact as a result of noncompliance with the bill to bring a certain civil action.

Text versions

Roll-call votes

State vote data last updated Oct 16, 2026, 4:04 AM.

DateVoteResultYour legislators
Sep 11, 2025
Senate		Unfinished Business SB243 Padilla et al. ConcurrencepassSet your home in California to see
Sep 11, 2025
House		SB 243 Padilla Senate Third Reading By KalrapassSet your home in California to see
Aug 29, 2025
House		Do pass.passSet your home in California to see
Jul 15, 2025
House		Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]passSet your home in California to see
Jul 8, 2025
House		Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary]passSet your home in California to see
Jun 3, 2025
Senate		3rd Reading SB243 Padilla et al.passSet your home in California to see
May 23, 2025
Senate		Do passpassSet your home in California to see
May 12, 2025
Senate		Placed on suspense filepassSet your home in California to see
Apr 30, 2025
Senate		Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]passSet your home in California to see
Apr 8, 2025
Senate		Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Health]passSet your home in California to see

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