California Enacts AB 1883, Banning AI Workplace Surveillance That Reads Emotions or Collects Neural Data

Assembly Bill 1883 (Bryan) was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 853, Statutes of 2026, adding a Labor Code part commencing with Section 1580. Section 1581 prohibits an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool that uses artificial intelligence on employees to recognize, or make inferences or predictions about, an individual's emotional state, or to collect neural data; tools used to ensure safety that do not do either remain permitted. Public employers are covered, the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor may enforce, and a violation carries a penalty of up to $500, with an exemption for uses reasonably necessary to comply with federal aerospace and defense requirements. It carries no urgency clause or special operative date, so it takes effect January 1, 2027 under California's default rule for statutes enacted in a regular session. Chaptered text retrieved 2026-10-12.

Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov