"Moving forward, California will require any companion bot platforms-including ChatGPT, Grok, Character.AI, and the like-to create and make public "protocols to identify and address users' suicidal ideation or expressions of self-harm." They must also share "statistics regarding how often they provided users with crisis center prevention notifications to the Department of Public Health," the governor's office said. Those stats will also be posted on the platforms' websites, potentially helping lawmakers and parents track any disturbing trends."
"Additionally, Newsom strengthened the state's penalties for those who create deepfake pornography, which could help shield young people, who are increasingly targeted with fake nudes, from cyber bullying. Now any victims, including minors, can seek up to $250,000 in damages per deepfake from any third parties who knowingly distribute nonconsensual sexually explicit material created using AI tools."
"Further, companion bots will be banned from claiming that they're therapists, and platforms must take extra steps to ensure child safety, including providing kids with break reminders and preventing kids from viewing sexually explicit images."
California enacted two laws addressing AI harms to minors, targeting companion bots and deepfake pornography, effective January 1, 2026. Companion-bot platforms must create and publish protocols to identify and address users' suicidal ideation, report statistics on crisis-center notifications to the Department of Public Health, and post those statistics on their websites. Platforms are banned from claiming to be therapists and must implement child-safety measures such as break reminders and blocking sexually explicit images. Deepfake-related penalties were increased so victims, including minors, can seek up to $250,000 per nonconsensual AI-generated explicit image distributed knowingly by third parties. Previous statutory damages were substantially lower.
Read at Ars Technica
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