Today, Governor Newsom signed a set of bills seeking to bolster child safety when interacting with technology, social media platforms, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbots. The package contained over a dozen bills, but of particular interest are AB 1159 (Addis), AB 1709 (Lowenthal), SB 1119 (Padilla, Wicks, Bauer-Kahan), and SB 1128 (Stern). Specifically, the bills do the following:

• AB 1159 (Addis): Establishes the Higher Education Student Information Protection Act governing the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of postsecondary student data by educational technology operators and prohibits the use of certain pieces of TK-12 student data to train or develop AI systems.

• AB 1709 (Lowenthal): Establishes an e-Safety Commission and prohibits social media platforms from providing addictive features to users under 16 years of age.

• SB 1119 (Padilla, Wicks, Bauer-Kahan): Requires chatbot operators to determine the age of a user, perform and document comprehensive risk assessments related to the design, configuration, and operation of the chatbot with respect to child users, and prohibits operators from targeting advertising at children.

• SB 1128 (Stern): Beginning with the 2027-28 school year, prohibits a local educational agency from requiring a pupil in kindergarten (including TK) to take home a school-issued electronic device.

Newsom’s signing of the bills comes on the heels of signing two other AI-related bills yesterday, and as concern over AI safety, and technology influence generally, is reaching a fever pitch. Just this week, a former AI developer for both OpenAI and Anthropic went viral for his social media posts noting “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt.” These comments come in the context of several, now well-publicized instances of AI systems “breaking out” of their ecosystems and infiltrating other platforms.

The bill package was also signed in light of the recent, landmark settlement reached with META, the company that owns and operates Facebook and Instagram. In settling a lawsuit filed by 29 states Attorneys General alleging the company knowingly addicted children to the platforms, it has agreed to pay out $17 billion to states over 10 years and install new safety parameters to increase child safety.

In signing the bills today, Newsom, who was flanked by Senators, Assembly Members, and parents, stated:

“Our children’s safety deserves to be at the center of every conversation about technology. As innovation moves faster our protections must keep pace. Today’s legislation makes clear that California will not stand by while unregulated technology puts our children at risk. Innovation comes with responsibility and protecting our children comes first.”

What’s next?

As session wrapped up this year, several prominent members of the Legislature had already noted a desire to do more in the education space around technology. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), a joint author of SB 1119, noted, “That’s going to be a big topic next year, one that needs to be revisited…” The comment may be referring more to technology use by students generally, but that discussion, the discussion about AI safety, and the discussion about social media, are quickly, and perhaps appropriately, becoming merged.

Responding to the AI developer’s post about the technology’s destructive possibilities this week, Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), who also jointly authored SB 1119, said the state may need to play a bigger role in regulating AI. “We should start to talk about how we set up a real tech safety regulator that includes these AI safety questions.” We anticipate several legislative proposals next year on these issues.

In the short term, we will continue to monitor bills pending on the Governor’s desk and let you know when he acts on other key education bills. Look for our annual Changes in Law summaries to hit your inbox starting in mid-October after Governor Newsom has taken his final actions. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Nick

Nick Romley

Legislative Advocate | Capitol Advisors Group