California Senate Bill 243, authored by Sen. Padilla, is a state law regulating companion chatbot platforms. It was signed on October 13, 2025 and enacted as Chapter 677, Statutes of 2025. The law requires operators to disclose that a chatbot is AI, to maintain protocols preventing the production of content related to suicidal ideation or self-harm, to provide additional protections for minors, and to report annually to the California Office of Suicide Prevention.
Scope and definitions
The law applies to "companion chatbots" — AI systems with natural language interfaces that provide adaptive, human-like responses and are capable of sustaining relationships across multiple interactions. It excludes customer service bots, video game characters, and simple voice assistants.
Key provisions
The statute sets out five principal obligations:
- Disclosure. If a reasonable person would believe they are interacting with a human, the operator must disclose that the chatbot is AI.
- Suicide prevention protocols. Operators must maintain and publish protocols preventing the production of suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm content.
- Minor protections. Operators face enhanced requirements for users known to be minors, including disclosure that the user is interacting with AI.
- Annual reporting. Beginning July 1, 2027, operators must report to the Office of Suicide Prevention on protocols for detecting and responding to suicidal ideation.
- Private right of action. Individuals injured by noncompliance may bring a civil action.
Context and related measures
SB 243 has been described as the first US legislation specifically targeting companion or relationship AI, a category that The Adolescence of Technology addresses in its discussion of AI psychosis and AI driving people to suicide, where Amodei warns about such systems. The findings of the AI LEAD Act cite that "multiple teenagers have tragically died after being exploited by an artificial intelligence chatbot," and SB 243 has been characterized as California's direct response. Child safety is among the carve-outs in EO 14365, which exempts child safety laws from federal preemption despite the order's general preemption focus.
Provenance
This page summarizes SB 243 (Chapter 677, California Statutes of 2025) (SB 243).