CA AB 2023
Status unknownCompanion chatbots: children's safety.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower
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Quick answers
Did CA AB 2023 pass?
The current status of CA AB 2023 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-08-30): Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Padilla.
What is CA AB 2023 about?
Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including companion chatbots, as defined. Existing law requires an operator, as defined, 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. Existing law requires an operator, for a user the operator knows is a minor, to, among other things, notify the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence and to disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors, as specified. The Digital Age Assurance Act requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched. This bill would require an operator, as defined, of a companion chatbot to, on or before July 1, 2027, do various things with respect to child safety and companion chatbots, including annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk, as defined, posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm, as defined, occurring to child users. The bill would require an operator to submit to an independent audit of its compliance with those provisions, as specified, and would require, within 90 days of completing an independent audit, the auditor to submit an AI child safety audit report to the Attorney General for any audited companion chatbot. The bill would, except as specified, require those audit reports to be kept confidential. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, require the Attorney General to issue an annual public report on the audits submitted pursuant to the above-described provision, as specified. The bill would authorize a public prosecutor to bring a certain civil action to enforce the bill's provisions and would authorize a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation of this chapter, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of that child, to bring a civil action against the operator to obtain, among other relief, punitive damages. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Who sponsors CA AB 2023?
Wicks is the primary sponsor of CA AB 2023, joined by 3 cosponsors.
Description
Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including companion chatbots, as defined. Existing law requires an operator, as defined, 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. Existing law requires an operator, for a user the operator knows is a minor, to, among other things, notify the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence and to disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors, as specified. The Digital Age Assurance Act requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched. This bill would require an operator, as defined, of a companion chatbot to, on or before July 1, 2027, do various things with respect to child safety and companion chatbots, including annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk, as defined, posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm, as defined, occurring to child users. The bill would require an operator to submit to an independent audit of its compliance with those provisions, as specified, and would require, within 90 days of completing an independent audit, the auditor to submit an AI child safety audit report to the Attorney General for any audited companion chatbot. The bill would, except as specified, require those audit reports to be kept confidential. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, require the Attorney General to issue an annual public report on the audits submitted pursuant to the above-described provision, as specified. The bill would authorize a public prosecutor to bring a certain civil action to enforce the bill's provisions and would authorize a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation of this chapter, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of that child, to bring a civil action against the operator to obtain, among other relief, punitive damages. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
- Introduced
- 2026-03-19
- Latest action
- 2026-08-30 — Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Padilla.
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Wicksauthor
- Bauer-Kahanauthor
- Padillaprincipal coauthor
- Lowenthalcoauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-08-30
Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Padilla.
2026-08-13
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 13).
2026-08-13
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2026-08-03
In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.
2026-06-24
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2026-06-17
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-06-16
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (June 15).
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee
2026-06-03
Referred to Coms. on P., D.T., & C.P. and JUD.
referral-committee
2026-05-27
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
reading-1,referral-committee
2026-05-26
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 8.)
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2026-05-26
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 8. Page 5307.)
2026-05-18
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
reading-1,reading-2,reading-3
2026-05-14
Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 5030.)
2026-05-14
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (May 14).
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-05-13
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
referral-committee
2026-04-28
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
referral-committee
2026-04-27
Read second time and amended.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2
2026-04-23
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 2.) (April 21).
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee
2026-04-14
Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
referral-committee
2026-04-13
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-04-13
In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
2026-03-26
Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
referral-committee
2026-03-25
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-03-23
Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
referral-committee
2026-03-19
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-03-19
Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.
referral-committee
2026-02-18
From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.
2026-02-17
Read first time. To print.
reading-1
Versions
- 02/17/26 - Introduced — 2026-02-17Compare
- 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-03-19Compare
- 03/25/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-03-25Compare
- 04/13/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-13Compare
- 04/27/26 - Amended Assembly — 2026-04-27Compare
- 06/17/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-17Compare
- AB2023Compare
- (document, no version)Compare
Documents
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Votes
Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2026-04-21 · pass · 13-2
Member-level votes (15)
- Bryan: yes
- Irwin: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Lowenthal: yes
- Patterson: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Hoover: yes
- McKinnor: yes
- Ward: yes
- Macedo: no
- DeMaio: no
Do pass.
2026-05-14 · pass · 12-3
Member-level votes (15)
- Krell: yes
- Sharp-Collins: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Hoover: yes
- Fong: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Solache: yes
- Aguiar-Curry: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Tangipa: no
- Ta: no
- Dixon: no
AB 2023 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
2026-05-26 · pass · 66-8
Member-level votes (80)
- Ward: yes
- Patel: yes
- Hart: yes
- Valencia: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Jeff Gonzalez: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Gabriel: yes
- Stefani: yes
- Ahrens: yes
- Alanis: yes
- Nguyen: yes
- Lee: yes
- Patterson: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Haney: yes
- Ramos: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Chen: yes
- Papan: yes
- Soria: yes
- Arambula: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Solache: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Ávila Farías: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Krell: yes
- Alvarez: yes
- Aguiar-Curry: yes
- Blanca Rubio: yes
- Berman: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Schultz: yes
- Bennett: yes
- Sharp-Collins: yes
- Bonta: yes
- Davies: yes
- McKinnor: yes
- Gipson: yes
- Ransom: yes
- Sanchez: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Quirk-Silva: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Rogers: yes
- Lowenthal: yes
- Bains: yes
- Hoover: yes
- Carrillo: yes
- Boerner: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Castillo: yes
- Fong: yes
- Irwin: yes
- Schiavo: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Addis: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Rivas: yes
- Jackson: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Michelle Rodriguez: yes
- Hadwick: no
- Dixon: no
- Macedo: no
- Ellis: no
- Tangipa: no
- DeMaio: no
- Johnson: no
- Ta: no
- Flora: other
- Lackey: other
- Gallagher: other
- Muratsuchi: other
- Celeste Rodriguez: other
- Wallis: other
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Judiciary]
2026-06-15 · pass · 7-1
Member-level votes (9)
- Umberg: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Gonzalez: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- McNerney: yes
- Reyes: yes
- Jones: no
- Ochoa Bogh: other
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2026-06-23 · pass · 13-0
Member-level votes (13)
- Ashby: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Reyes: yes
- Stern: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Laird: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Allen: yes
- Niello: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
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