California's session closes and its AI bills go to Newsom's desk
The California legislature aggressively approved a broad package of foundational AI regulations just as its legislative session closed in late August. While various organizations categorize the final tally differently, Transparency Coalition officially counts 26 separate AI measures within the comprehensive package. The newly approved bills, now awaiting the governor's signature, include sweeping bans on toy companion chatbots, strict restrictions on algorithmic feeds directed at users under 16, and firm limits on workplace surveillance technologies.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
The number and classification of the bills
The California Assembly and Senate worked right up to their late August deadline to clear a broad and sweeping package of legislative measures regulating artificial intelligence, sending the approved bills directly to Governor Gavin Newsom. The precise number and classification of the passed measures vary across different reporting organisations. The Transparency Coalition reports that a total of 26 dedicated AI measures successfully cleared the legislature during the 2026 session. In contrast, the Stauss Firm counts the legislative output as eight distinct privacy bills alongside sixteen specific AI bills, presenting a different grouping of the final package.[1], [2]
Child safety and chatbots
A substantial portion of the approved regulations focuses heavily on protecting minors, consumers, and patients from potential algorithmic harms. The SB 1119 measure updates existing chatbot laws by mandating independent child safety audits, while SB 867 takes the stricter step of barring the manufacturing, selling, or offering of any toy that features a companion chatbot. Building on these consumer protections, AB 1709 explicitly bans personalised feeds and autoplay functions for users under the age of 16. Furthermore, AB 1609 imposes strict new obligations on customer service chatbots deployed by private businesses holding more than 500 million dollars in gross annual national revenue.[1], [2]
Workplace and transparency
Beyond consumer products, the final legislative package also tightens the rules surrounding workplace surveillance and broadens corporate transparency mandates. The AB 1883 bill severely restricts the deployment of workplace tools designed to collect neural data or infer the emotional states of employees, while AB 2564 introduces a comprehensive ban on algorithmic pricing models. Highlighting the expansion of oversight, the Stauss Firm points to SB 1000, which amends the California AI Transparency Act by actively removing its previous one million monthly visitor threshold, effectively forcing a much wider range of covered providers to adhere to state transparency rules.[1], [2]
