California Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed legislation aimed at regulating AI companion chatbots and restricting features on social media platforms designed to be especially engaging for younger users. The bill drew support from a range of state lawmakers and from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The legislation requires companies that offer companion chatbot products, AI systems designed to simulate ongoing, personal conversation, to build in safeguards, and it bans certain addictive design features on social media platforms for users under 16. Newsom said the goal was to ensure that safety is built into the design of new technology rather than treated as an afterthought, a sentiment echoed by California's First Partner, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who said safety needed to be a necessary requirement for innovation rather than something added later.
The signing reflects a broader wave of state level attention to artificial intelligence and youth online safety, an area where states have moved more quickly than the federal government to write specific rules. California, home to many of the country's largest technology companies, has repeatedly used its legislative authority to set standards that other states and, at times, companies operating nationally have then adopted more broadly.
Separately this week, OpenAI and the U.S. General Services Administration announced an agreement to give federal employees access to OpenAI's tools, part of a broader effort by federal agencies to formalize the use of commercial AI systems in government work. The announcement adds to a growing list of agreements between AI developers and government bodies as agencies work through questions of security, procurement, and appropriate use of the technology.
Other states are expected to consider similar legislation on AI chatbots and youth social media use in the coming months, following California's lead.
What is a companion chatbot?
It is an AI system designed to simulate an ongoing, personal style conversation with a user, a category that has drawn growing attention from regulators concerned about effects on younger users.