Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1119, named Adam's Law after a teenager whose family said an AI chatbot contributed to his death, on September 10, 2026, along with a package of related bills strengthening California's child-safety rules for social media and AI products.
SB 1119, authored by state Senator Steve Padilla with Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, imposes obligations on companies that make AI companion chatbots available to California users, including detecting and responding to indications that a child user is expressing suicidal ideation or self-harm, and restricting design features that encourage compulsive engagement by minors.
Why it matters
California is home to most of the leading AI chatbot developers, so its rules function as a de facto national standard the way its privacy and vehicle-emissions laws have in the past. The law arrives amid mounting lawsuits and public concern over cases in which minors formed intense relationships with AI companion chatbots, some of which allegedly failed to intervene or actively encouraged harmful behavior.
How the rule works
Adam's Law requires operators of companion chatbots to implement safeguards such as break reminders, clear disclosure that users are interacting with an AI system rather than a person, and protocols for detecting and responding to signs of self-harm or suicidal ideation among users identified or reasonably believed to be minors. Companion legislation signed the same week separately restricts algorithmic feeds and other addictive design features aimed at children on social media platforms, building on California's existing Age-Appropriate Design Code framework.
Evidence
The governor's office said the bill was "backed by" leading AI companies including OpenAI, according to POLITICO's reporting on the signing, a notable departure from industry's more adversarial posture toward some earlier state AI bills, and the bill text on file with the California Legislature reflects amendments as recent as August 28, 2026 that narrowed and clarified compliance obligations before passage.
The competing read
Child-safety advocates and the bill's legislative sponsors have framed Adam's Law as a necessary response to documented harms, arguing companion chatbot design has outpaced any meaningful safety obligations. Some technology industry groups have raised concerns that state-by-state chatbot regulation creates a fragmented compliance landscape and have pushed for a uniform federal standard instead, even as individual companies such as OpenAI supported this particular bill.
What happens next
Companies operating companion chatbots accessible to California users will need to build compliance programs ahead of the law's effective date, and California regulators are expected to issue implementing guidance. Other states are already considering similar companion-chatbot safety bills, and the EU has separately signaled it may move to restrict AI chatbots and social media for children under 15, suggesting California's law could become a template well beyond the United States.