Rob Bonta is the Attorney General of California. In AI policy he appears as the state officer who defends California's technology statutes in court, as a state enforcer against platform companies, and as a signatory of multistate letters on AI and energy regulation.
Defense of California statutes
Bonta is the named defendant, in his official capacity, in two challenges to California laws bearing on AI and online services:
- NetChoice v. Bonta (CAADCA litigation), NetChoice's repeated challenge to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273). Bonta called the Ninth Circuit's March 2026 NetChoice II ruling "a critical win" (NetChoice v. Bonta (CAADCA litigation)).
- SpaceXAI v. Bonta (AB 2013 challenge), SpaceXAI's First Amendment challenge to AB 2013, the training-data disclosure law, filed December 29, 2025 (SpaceXAI v. Bonta (AB 2013 challenge)).
Enforcement
In the multistate case against Meta in MDL 3047, a proposed settlement was announced on August 26, 2026 in a statement from Bonta, eight days into trial; his office put the payment at $17 billion in penalties to the states over ten years, while other accounts of the same announcement gave $16.7 billion, $17.1 billion and $18 billion (In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047)). His office has also issued a legal advisory on applying California's consumer-protection, civil-rights, competition and data-privacy law to AI (State AG AI Guidances (CA, NJ, MA, OR)).
Multistate letters
In a comment letter submitted June 15–16, 2026, Bonta, joined by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general, urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw its proposed microreactor licensing rule (Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)). He is among the 26 attorneys general who signed the September 23, 2026 letter asking Congress for comprehensive federal frontier AI regulation that does not preempt state law; the letter was published on the California Attorney General's website and cites California's SB 53 as a law under which the signers are acting (Letter from state attorneys general to congressional leadership urging federal frontier AI regulation (September 2026)).
Relationships
- litigates: NetChoice v. Bonta (CAADCA litigation), SpaceXAI v. Bonta (AB 2013 challenge) — defendant in official capacity.
- litigates: In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047) — among the plaintiff states.
- related: Letter from state attorneys general to congressional leadership urging federal frontier AI regulation (September 2026) — signatory.
- related: State AG AI Guidances (CA, NJ, MA, OR), California SB 53, California AB 2013 — Generative AI Training Data Transparency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- related: AI Federalism, State-Level AI Regulation