Attorney General Bonta Supports AI Legislation Aiming to Protect Children from Companion Chatbots

Continues advocating to protect children from harm related to advancing technology

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced his support of Assembly Bill 1064, also known as the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act. If signed by the Governor, the LEAD for Kids Act, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), would take an important first step by prohibiting the availability of so-called "companion chatbots" to children unless the chatbots are not foreseeably capable of certain conduct, such as engaging in sexually explicit interactions, or encouraging children to harm themselves, harm others, participate in illegal activity, among other things. In the last few weeks, Attorney General Bonta has warned 12 of the largest artificial intelligence (AI) companies of their legal responsibility to children as consumers after reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children. Attorney General Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings have also met with OpenAI to discuss deep concerns over increased reports of how OpenAI's products interact with children, especially after reports that one young Californian died by suicide after engaging with a chatbot.

"As the fourth largest economy in the world and the home to Silicon Valley, California knows that protecting our kids and pursuing innovation go hand in hand - they are not opposites. When faced with the decision about how their products treat children, we cannot wait for companies developing and deploying AI technologies to decide to prioritize children's well-being over their profits. It is our job as policymakers and leaders to intervene and ensure that companies are not harming children," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "People across the nation - including myself - have become increasingly concerned with AI companies' failure to protect children who interact with their chatbots. We need policies governing emerging AI technology that put consumer protection - especially when it comes to our most vulnerable consumers - front and center. I thank Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan for introducing this legislation, a much needed first step to ensure that our children are not treated as test subjects as AI innovation moves quickly."

"Our children deserve a future where technology isn't designed to exploit their vulnerabilities for profit," said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda). "It's imperative that we fight for stronger protections and hold companies accountable when their products put children at risk. I'm grateful for Attorney General Bonta's support as we work together to build a safer digital world for California's children."

AI is increasingly integrated into children's lives without sufficient information about how the technology will impact the children using it. AI companion chatbots are programs designed to form a relationship with a human user by engaging in human-like conversations, offering emotional support, and providing companionship. These chatbots can simulate human personalities and deep emotional relationships and falsely present as friends, romantic companions, or even mental health specialists. Because AI companion chatbots are capable of responding to emotions and behaviors to keep children engaged, the lines between what is real and not real can become increasingly blurred, especially for a still-developing brain. Companion chatbots have already harmed children and adolescents, including incidents of exposure to hypersexualized interactions, as well as encouragement of self-harm and suicide.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting Californians by responding to emerging and rapidly evolving technology. In the past years, Attorney General Bonta has filed lawsuits against Meta and TikTok. Both lawsuits are ongoing and claim that the social media giants intentionally designed their platforms to addict young people to their mental and physical detriment.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta issued two legal advisories, reminding consumers of their rights, and advising businesses and healthcare entities who develop, sell, or use AI about their obligations under California law. Although AI technology is developing rapidly, entities must comply with existing California laws. The legal advisories can be found here, and here. In the last few months, Attorney General Bonta sent multiple letters (here and here) to Congressional leaders strongly opposing a 10-year ban on states from enforcing any state law or regulation addressing AI and automated decision-making systems, arguing the rapidly evolving nature of AI technology demands the flexibility and responsiveness that states can provide and urging lawmakers to remove the provision. The ban was struck down in July.

In 2024, Attorney General Bonta sent a comment letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) related to the potential impact of emerging AI technology on efforts to protect consumers from illegal robocalls or robotexts. In 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a bipartisan coalition of 54 states and territories in sending a letter to Congressional leaders calling for the creation of an expert commission to study how AI can and is being used to exploit children through child sexual abuse material (CSAM).