California Senate Advances Groundbreaking AI Companionship Chatbot Safety Bill

In a bold move to regulate the growing influence of artificial intelligence in personal and emotional spaces, California lawmakers are advancing a landmark bill aimed at protecting users—especially minors—from potential harm caused by AI companionship chatbots. The proposed legislation, which has now passed the state Senate, introduces new requirements for companies developing and deploying socially interactive AI systems.

The legislation specifically targets chatbots designed for companionship, emotional support, or conversational engagement—not traditional customer service bots. The bill mandates that all AI companionship chatbots display recurring disclosures every three hours to inform users that they are interacting with. . .