amendmentSeptember 10, 2026

California Enacts SB 1119 (Adam's Law), Replacing SB 243's Minor Safeguards for Companion Chatbots

Senate Bill 1119 (Padilla) was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 10, 2026 as Chapter 190, Statutes of 2026. It amends Business and Professions Code Section 22602, deleting the SB 243 duties that applied when a companion chatbot operator knows a user is a minor, and adds Chapter 11.6, Adam's Law (Sections 21810 to 21818). Operators must determine user age or extend child protections to all users; from July 1, 2027, operators that allow child users must complete a child-safety risk assessment before releasing a new or substantially modified companion chatbot, publish a child safety policy, and apply protective defaults including one-hour session and two-hour daily limits for children. Independent child safety audits are due by January 1, 2029, and public prosecutors may seek up to $5,000 per affected child for each negligent violation and $15,000 for each intentional violation. 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