A bill attempting to regulate the ever-growing industry of companion AI chatbots is now law in California, as of October 13th.<\/p>\n
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law<\/a> Senate Bill 243<\/a>, billed as \u201cfirst-in-the-nation AI chatbot safeguards<\/a>\u201d by state senator Steve Padilla. The new law<\/a> requires that companion chatbot developers implement new safeguards \u2014 for instance, \u201cif a reasonable person interacting with a companion chatbot would be misled to believe that the person is interacting with a human,\u201d then the new law requires the chatbot maker to \u201cissue a clear and conspicuous notification\u201d that the product is strictly AI and not human.<\/p>\n Starting next year, the legislation would require some companion chatbot operators to make annual reports to the Office of Suicide Prevention about safeguards they\u2019ve put in place \u201cto detect, remove, and respond to instances of suicidal ideation by users,\u201d and the Office would need to post such data on its website.<\/p>\n \u201cEmerging technology like chatbots and social media can inspire, educate, and connect \u2013 but without real guardrails, technology can also exploit, mislead, and endanger our kids,\u201d Newsom said in a statement<\/a> on signing the bill, along with several other pieces of legislation aimed at improving online safety for children, including new age-gating requirements for hardware<\/a>. \u201cWe can continue to lead in AI and technology, but we must do it responsibly \u2014 protecting our children every step of the way. Our children\u2019s safety is not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n