California SB 1119 Adam's Law, companion chatbots (2026)

Cal. Stats. 2026, ch. 190 (SB 1119, Padilla; approved and filed Sept. 10, 2026). Amends Bus. & Prof. Code § 22602 and adds Chapter 11.6 (commencing with § 21810) to Division 8; § 21810: 'This chapter shall be known as "Adam's Law."' 'Child' = natural person under 18. Operators of companion chatbots must, beginning July 1, 2027 (§§ 21812, 21812.5, 21813 operative July 1, 2027), before making a new or substantially modified companion chatbot available in California, conduct and document a risk assessment of covered harms; publish a high-level child safety policy (§ 21812(c)); set default limits changeable only by a parent of one hour per continuous session and two hours per day for child users; maintain a crisis-response protocol with referral to an appropriate crisis service; and notify a parent as soon as practicable when a credible threat of suicide or self-harm is detected. The Attorney General must establish an incident-reporting mechanism by Jan. 1, 2028; child safety audits are required from Jan. 1, 2029 (or first public deployment, if later). § 21816: a public prosecutor (§ 17204) may recover civil penalties up to $5,000 per affected child for negligent and $15,000 per affected child for intentional violations, plus injunctive relief and fees; a child who suffers actual harm from a violation of § 21812(d)(1)-(5), or a parent/guardian on the child's behalf, may sue for actual damages, fees and injunctive or declaratory relief (financial harm must exceed $1,000 per child; emotional harm must be serious emotional distress). Companion measures signed the same day are indexed separately (California SB 867 AI chatbot toy moratorium (2026), California AB 1709 addictive feeds and under-16 age restriction (2026), California AB 2 social media child harm liability (2026), California AB 2071 digital wellness curriculum (2026), California AB 2298 cybersecurity curriculum (2026)).