Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with Senate amendments and pass a bill that prohibits individuals or businesses from providing "companion chatbots" to children in California.

Highlights:

• Prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot available to a child unless the companion chatbot is not foreseeably capable of the following (Sec. 2):

• Encouraging the child to engage in self harm, suicidal ideation, consumption of drugs or alcohol, or disordered eating;

• Offering mental health therapy to a child without the direct supervision of a licensed or credentialed professional or discouraging the child from seeking help from a qualified or appropriate adult;

• Encouraging the child to harm others or participate in illegal activity, including but not limited to the creation of child sexual abuse materials; 

• Engaging in erotic or sexually explicit interactions with the child;

• Prioritizing validation of the users beliefs, preferences, or desires over factual accuracy or the child’s safety; and

• Optimizing the engagement that supersedes the companion chatbot’s required safety guardrails.

• Authorizes the Attorney General to bring action against an operator to obtain any of the following remedies (Sec. 2):

• A civil penalty of $25,000 for each violation;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; or

• Reasonable attorney’s fees.

• Authorizes a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of the child, to bring a civil action against the operator seeking (Sec. 2):

• Actual damages;

• Punitive damages; 

• Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; and

• Any other relief that the court deems proper.

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that prohibits individuals or businesses from providing "companion chatbots" to children in California.

Highlights:

• Prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot available to a child unless the companion chatbot is not foreseeably capable of the following (Sec. 2):

• Encouraging the child to engage in self harm, suicidal ideation, consumption of drugs or alcohol, or disordered eating;

• Offering mental health therapy to a child without the direct supervision of a licensed or credentialed professional or discouraging the child from seeking help from a qualified or appropriate adult;

• Encouraging the child to harm others or participate in illegal activity, including but not limited to the creation of child sexual abuse materials; 

• Engaging in erotic or sexually explicit interactions with the child;

• Prioritizing validation of the users beliefs, preferences, or desires over factual accuracy or the child’s safety; and

• Optimizing the engagement that supersedes the companion chatbot’s required safety guardrails.

• Authorizes the Attorney General to bring action against an operator to obtain any of the following remedies (Sec. 2):

• A civil penalty of $25,000 for each violation;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; or

• Reasonable attorney’s fees.

• Authorizes a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of the child, to bring a civil action against the operator seeking (Sec. 2):

• Actual damages;

• Punitive damages; 

• Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; and

• Any other relief that the court deems proper.

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that prohibits individuals or businesses from providing "companion chatbots" to children in California.

Highlights:

• Prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot available to a child unless the companion chatbot is not foreseeably capable of the following (Sec. 2):

• Encouraging the child to engage in self harm, suicidal ideation, consumption of drugs or alcohol, or disordered eating;

• Offering mental health therapy to a child without the direct supervision of a licensed or credentialed professional or discouraging the child from seeking help from a qualified or appropriate adult;

• Encouraging the child to harm others or participate in illegal activity, including but not limited to the creation of child sexual abuse materials; 

• Engaging in erotic or sexually explicit interactions with the child;

• Prioritizing validation of the users beliefs, preferences, or desires over factual accuracy or the child’s safety; and

• Optimizing the engagement that supersedes the companion chatbot’s required safety guardrails.

• Authorizes the Attorney General to bring action against an operator to obtain any of the following remedies (Sec. 2):

• A civil penalty of $25,000 for each violation;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; or

• Reasonable attorney’s fees.

• Authorizes a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of the child, to bring a civil action against the operator seeking (Sec. 2):

• Actual damages;

• Punitive damages; 

• Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs;

• Injunctive or declaratory relief; and

• Any other relief that the court deems proper.

Full Bill Text