30 Mar Bay Area Legislators Introduce Bill to Protect Children From AI Companion Chatbots

Photo illustration of the mobile version of Character.AI on an Apple iPhone. The company is banning minors from using its chatbots online (Ray Saint Germain / Bay City News)

By Bay City News

State legislators from the Bay Area have introduced a bill to establish guardrails for artificial intelligence companion chatbots that are used by children.

State Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-San Ramon, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, introduced Assembly Bill 2023, while state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-Chula Vista, introduced Senate Bill 1119, a similar bill in the Senate.

Among other things, the legislation prohibits AI chatbots from displaying content that is harmful to minors, requires data protection measures to secure children’s personal information, and mandates in-app crisis support features.

The bill also seeks greater accountability from companies operating the chatbots through independent audits and annual risk assessments.

The new legislation builds on Senate Bill 243, which currently governs AI chatbots in the state and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October.

A news release issued Thursday by the Bay Area legislators cites data from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit concerned with children’s safety pertaining to media consumption.

This data suggests that 72% of teenagers have used an AI companion, and 50% are regular users. On average, users spend 93 minutes per day engaging with AI chatbots, and a majority of them are children and young adults.

“AI chatbots can be powerful tools for learning,” said Bauer-Kahan in the news release, “but right now, millions of children are using them with no guardrails and no guarantee of safety.”

“We’ve already seen what happens when these platforms go unchecked — and it’s devastating. AB 2023/SB 1119 ensures that as this technology grows, it grows safely,” she added.

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