California Enacts AB 1979 on Clinical Decision Support AI and Health Care Chatbots

Assembly Bill 1979 (Bonta) was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 854, Statutes of 2026. New Business and Professions Code Section 22758.5 requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or group practice to take reasonable steps to ensure a licensed health care provider retains independent professional judgment whenever care is informed by a clinical decision support system, and bars it from using AI to independently perform, or to direct unlicensed personnel in, a clinical function the law reserves to licensed professionals. Amendments to Civil Code Sections 56.05 and 56.06 treat a business that offers a health care chatbot to consumers as a provider of health care under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. 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