California governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of social media, AI chatbots

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of laws Thursday aimed at protecting children from the risks of technology, including social media and AI chatbots.

The laws will penalize large social media companies up to $1 million per child if they are found negligent of harming children through their platforms, ban tech businesses from offering addictive feeds to anyone under 16 and require operators of AI chatbots to perform risk assessments before rolling them out.

Newsom joined his wife and state lawmakers at a children’s museum near San Francisco to stress the importance of protecting kids at a time when they have such easy access to social media and AI chatbots.

“We have designed cribs to be safe, chairs to be safe, car seats,” Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said. “Yet we’ve allowed technology to be handed to our children and never asked or expected it to be safe.”

The bill signings come weeks after Meta reached a settlement with California and 28 other states after they alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that the tech giant deliberately designed features to addict children. The company agreed to pay up to $18 billion and strengthen its child safety measures.

Newsom said the new laws highlight the state’s leadership on the issue.

“It’s a good day for our children,” he said. “It’s a good day for the state of California.”

But Meta raised concerns about some of the bills, saying the law to restrict addictive feeds hinders the company’s ability to bring enjoyable content to users on its platforms.

“We believe that delivering a tailored experience is an important part of what makes Facebook and Instagram valuable for teens as they connect with family and friends and explore their interests — safely,” spokesperson Jim Cullinan said in a statement. “Personalization is also how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them — all with the proper guardrails in place.”

The governor has walked a fine line on technology policy during his nearly eight years serving as governor in the nation’s most populous state, whose status as a global tech hub he has repeatedly touted in speeches.

He signed a law last year requiring platforms to remind users they are interacting with a chatbot and not a human. Hours later, he vetoed a bill that would have banned companies from making AI chatbots available to anyone under 18 years old unless the businesses could ensure the technology couldn’t engage in sexual conversations or encourage self-harm.

Newsom also signed a law in 2024 to restrict student use of smartphones in schools.

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Democrat who helped write the law to impose penalties on companies for harming children, said it was a critical time to pass the new laws.

“The pace of technology is moving faster than government can put guardrails in,” he said.

Newsom also signed laws Wednesday that are aimed at improving oversight of AI companies. The bills, which are supported by Anthropic, require the state to create rules for independent organizations to evaluate the safety risks of AI models, create a registry of AI auditors, who’d have to be financially independent from the businesses they are auditing.