California AB 325 (bans anticompetitive use of shared pricing algorithms)
California AB 325 (2025) — Cartwright Act Amendment on Common Pricing Algorithms
California · AB 325 (2025), amending the Cartwright Act (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 16700 et seq.)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- January 1, 2026
- Applies to
- Businesses and individuals that use or distribute pricing algorithms in California commerce, including vendors of such tools.
- Enforced by
- California Attorney General and district attorneys (Cartwright Act enforcement), plus private litigants.
This law amends California's main antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act, to address algorithmic price-fixing. It makes it unlawful to use or distribute a common pricing algorithm — a methodology that uses competitor data to recommend, align, stabilize, set, or influence a price or term — as part of an agreement or conspiracy to restrain trade, or to coerce another party into adopting a recommended price. It also makes it easier to bring antitrust conspiracy claims.
Who is protected: Consumers and competitors in California markets harmed by algorithmic price coordination.
Legal detail
AB 325 amends the Cartwright Act to prohibit using or distributing a common pricing algorithm (a methodology using competitor data to recommend/align/stabilize/set/influence a price or term) as part of a contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade, or coercing another to adopt a recommended price, and lowers the antitrust-conspiracy pleading standard.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | California |
|---|---|
| Level | State |
| Strength | Limited |
| Enacted | October 8, 2025 |
| Citation | AB 325 (2025), amending the Cartwright Act (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 16700 et seq.) |
| Private right of action | Yes, individuals can sue |
| Penalties | Cartwright Act penalties — corporate criminal fines up to $6 million per violation (ceiling raised by companion bill SB 763) or twice the gross gain or loss, plus civil remedies. |
| Topics | automated decision-making · consumer protection |
| Bill text | AB-325 Cartwright Act: pricing algorithms |
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Related automated decision-making rules elsewhere
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