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What just happened? California is tightening the rules on how tech companies keep children glued to their screens. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of laws targeting addictive social media features and potentially harmful AI companions, with large platforms facing penalties of up to $1 million per child for negligently causing harm.
Newsom's office describes the chatbot and social media protections as the strongest in the country, including the nation's first requirements for independent child safety audits and annual risk assessments for companion chatbots.
The measures, which were signed on September 10, include AB 1709, which prohibits social media companies from offering addictive features to users under 16. That covers autoplay and algorithmic feeds built around a user's history and profile.
"Innovation comes with responsibility and protecting our children comes first," Newsom said.
The chatbot centerpiece is SB 1119, also known as Adam's Law. Named after teenager Adam Raine, whose parents sued OpenAI over claims ChatGPT encouraged his suicide in 2025, it requires risk assessments before new or substantially modified companion chatbots are released, alongside independent compliance audits.
According to the bill's authors, operators must use age-bracket signals supplied through operating systems. Default protections include usage limits, disabled notifications, and restrictions on persistent conversational memory, with changes reserved for parents.
Companies also face liability if they fail to take reasonable measures against harmful outputs, including sexual content, romantic roleplay, and emotional manipulation that encourages children to withdraw from friends and family. Crisis support and parental notification requirements address credible threats of imminent self-harm.
Families harmed by violations of specified protections can seek legal action. Operators must also implement incident reporting, while independent audit findings will be submitted to the California Attorney General.
"We cannot make the same mistakes that were made with social media," said Senator Steve Padilla.
Last year, 44 attorneys general warned AI companies they would be held accountable for harm to children. That followed revelations about Meta's internal chatbot guidelines permitting romantic exchanges with minors. Meta said the offending sections had been removed and were inconsistent with its policies.
Unsurprisingly, Meta isn't happy about the new feed restrictions. The company argues that personalization helps it provide teenagers with relevant, age-appropriate content, according to the Associated Press.
"Personalization is also how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them – all with the proper guardrails in place," spokesperson Jim Cullinan said.
The package also restricts targeted advertising to children and the use of school pupil data in AI systems. Families will be able to opt out of school-issued laptops, too.
The signing follows two AI oversight laws approved on September 9. SB 813 establishes a framework for independent organizations to assess AI systems' compliance with state law, while AB 1405 creates a registry of AI auditors and standards for their independence.
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