California Age-Verification and Other Child Safety Bills Signed

Newsom approved AB-1043, which requires an age-signaling system that’s meant to shield kids from objectionable content while protecting their privacy. It requires manufacturers to develop a method for device owners to enter the device-user's birthdate or age. This allows a digital signal about the user’s age -- shared as an age bracket -- to be sent to app developers.

Also, Newsom signed AB-56, which requires mental health warnings for children on social media and was sponsored by Assembly Privacy Committee Chair Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D). That was recommended by previous U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Minnesota signed the first such requirement into law earlier this year (see 2506180004); some lawyers expect legal challenges (see 2507110032)

Meanwhile, Newsom signed SB-243 on AI chatbots that could be used by children. But he vetoed a different bill on that subject (AB-1064), known as the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act. That's despite earlier optimism about the bill's potential signing from Bauer-Kahan (see 2509260040).

Newsom also signed an AI transparency bill (AB-853) aimed at making it easier for users to access provenance data of uploaded content. Last month, Newsom signed SB-53 on frontier AI (see 2509290064).

“Emerging technology like chatbots and social media can inspire, educate, and connect -- but without real guardrails, technology can also exploit, mislead, and endanger our kids,” said Newsom in a Monday press release. “We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability.”

AB-1043 “would establish a much-needed system of age verification for users of mobile devices and computers,” wrote Newsom in a signing statement Monday. However, noting that the law won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, the governor asked the legislature to next year address the concerns of streaming services and video game developers, who “have existing age verification systems in place, addressing complexities such as multi-users accounts shared by a family and users profiles utilized across multiple devices.”

On the AI chatbot bills, Newsom said he signed SB-243 rather than AB-1064 because he preferred the former’s approach of requiring chatbot platforms to “establish protocols to detect, remove, and respond to instances of suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm expressed by users” and require reporting to the state’s public health department.

However, AB-1064 “imposes such broad restrictions on the use of conversational AI tools that it may unintentionally lead to a total ban on the use of these products by minors,” said the governor’s veto statement. “We cannot prepare our youth for a future where AI is ubiquitous by preventing their use of these tools altogether.” Newsom pledged to work with legislators “to develop a bill next year that ensures young people can use AI in a manner that is safe, age-appropriate, and in the best interests of children and their future.”

Industry raised the specter of litigation over the governor’s signing of the bills on age verification and social media warning labels. AB-56 and AB-1043 “will not withstand legal scrutiny,” said Zach Lilly, NetChoice director of government affairs. The tech trade group noted in a news release that it has sued other states over “similar censorship laws.” However, Lilly applauded Newsom for vetoing AB-1064.

Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer disagreed. “The governor’s actions on AB 56 and AB 1043 are landmark victories for kids and families, and not just here in the Golden State,” he said. “California once again is setting a standard for the rest of the nation, as well as for the rest of the world, to follow.”

Still, Steyer found the veto of AB-1064 “deeply disappointing,” he said in a separate press release. “This legislation is desperately needed to protect children and teens from dangerous -- and even deadly -- AI companion chatbots.” The governor must have felt “tremendous pressure” from Big Tech lobbyists to scrap the bill, added the Common Sense CEO.

However, the Software & Information Industry Association said SB-243 was the more reasonable chatbots bill. "The approach outlined in SB243 creates transparency and safeguards for companion chatbots without stifling innovation or raising significant constitutional questions," said Paul Lekas, SIIA senior vice president of global public policy in a statement.

The Transparency Coalition also applauded Newsom for signing SB-243. “This law is an important first step in protecting kids and others from the emotional harms that result from AI companion chatbots, which have been unleashed without proper safeguards,” said Jai Jaisimha, the group’s co-founder.

“Our work isn’t finished,” Bauer-Kahan said in a press release from California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) praising AB-56 becoming law. “California's children deserve both transparency about social media's harms and accountability when platforms cause damage," she said. “I'll continue working with … Bonta and my colleagues to ensure comprehensive protections become law.”

"The message [is] clear," Frankfurt Kurnit attorney Emma Smizer wrote in a blog post Monday. "Children's online safety, especially with evolving AI, is top of mind for California. This is a meaningful step in the online safety trend, particularly at State-level legislation, and we are seeing a complex -- and ever-growing -- patchwork of laws emerging across the United States."