California AI Law

Browse California law and bill articles, dated legislative records, and the historical tracker below. A date in an entry identifies the recorded event or source check; it does not imply that every measure has been rechecked today.

Enacted laws

• SB 1050 — Synthetic performers in advertising — signed September 16, 2026.
• SB 867 — Companion-chatbot toys — signed September 10, 2026 (chapter 189); effective January 1, 2027.
• AB 1709 — Covered platforms and e-Safety Advisory Commission — signed September 10, 2026 (chapter 183); effective January 1, 2027.
• Adam’s Law (SB 1119) — Companion chatbots: children’s safety — signed September 10, 2026; core safeguards and privacy duties become operative July 1, 2027, with separate phased audit requirements.
• SB 813 — Independent verification organizations — Chapter 179 (2026), approved September 9; agency designation framework due January 1, 2028.
• AB 1405 — AI auditor registration — Chapter 178 (2026), approved September 9; registry deadline and prohibition on unregistered covered audits begin January 1, 2029.
• CA S 928 — California State University faculty employees — enacted August 27, 2026 as Chapter 149; requires CSU instructors of record and faculty employees to be people meeting applicable trustee rules while allowing employees to use AI tools for university operations and student services.
• AB 2013, Generative Artificial Intelligence: Training Data Transparency — Chapter 817 (2024); requires developers of generative AI systems or services made available to Californians to post specified documentation about training data.
• SB 942, California AI Transparency Act — Chapter 291 (2024), amended by AB 853 (2025); became operative August 2, 2026. It requires covered generative-AI providers to offer detection tools, give users an option for a visible AI disclosure, and embed latent provenance disclosures in covered image, audio, and video content. See: August 2 update.
• AB 1008, California Consumer Privacy Act: Personal Information — Chapter 802 (2024); amends the CCPA definition of personal information to clarify that personal information can exist in AI systems and other formats.
• AB 1836, Use of Likeness: Digital Replica — Chapter 258 (2024); creates liability for unauthorized digital replicas of deceased personalities in expressive audiovisual works or sound recordings.
• AB 2602, Digital Replicas in Personal or Professional Services Contracts — Chapter 259 (2024); makes certain contract provisions unenforceable when they permit digital replicas of an individual's voice or likeness in lieu of that individual's work without specified protections.
• AB 2839, Elections: Deceptive Media in Advertisements — Chapter 262 (2024); enacted restrictions on materially deceptive election communications, including AI-generated or manipulated media, around California elections. The August 29, 2025 permanent injunction protects the named plaintiffs against enforcement by the defendant officials and those acting with them.
• AB 2885, Artificial Intelligence — Chapter 843 (2024); establishes a cross-code definition of artificial intelligence for specified California statutes.
• AB 3030, Health Care Services: Artificial Intelligence — Chapter 848 (2024); requires specified health care providers using generative AI for patient clinical communications to include AI disclaimers and instructions for contacting a human provider, except when a licensed or certified human health care provider reads and reviews the communication.

Synthetic performers in advertising (SB 1050)

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1050, authored by Senator Angelique Ashby, on September 16, 2026. SAG-AFTRA sponsored the legislation.

The enrolled text adds Business and Professions Code section 17610. It requires clear and conspicuous disclosure when an advertisement prominently includes a synthetic performer: an AI-generated figure, voice or representation that realistically resembles human performance without being recognizable as an identifiable natural person. Exceptions cover specified promotions for expressive works and AI used solely for translation or accessibility.

An advertising medium served with a qualifying court order and sufficient information identifying an offending advertisement must cease dissemination and accepting payment for it as soon as commercially reasonable and technically feasible. The statute does not generally ban synthetic content.

See September 16, 2026 digest coverage.

Proposed legislation

• CA A 1883 — Workplace surveillance tools — received final legislative approval on August 30, 2026 and was sent to engrossing and enrolling; would prohibit employers from using AI workplace-surveillance tools to infer or predict workers’ emotional state or collect neural data. Enrolled September 3 and presented September 10; still listed with the Governor on September 16, 2026.
• California AB 1651 — State Bar AI disclosures — signed August 22, 2026 as Chapter 116. The disclosure requirements apply to examination and study content developed by or at the State Bar’s explicit direction, even if a person later reviews it; operative January 1, 2028. Historical step: August 10 presentation to governor.
• CA A 2025 — Tenancy: digitally altered images: disclosure — received final legislative approval when the Assembly concurred 78–0 in Senate amendments on August 25, 2026, and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would require disclosure when digitally altered images are used in promotional materials for real property. See: August 25 update.
• CA A 2392 — Public postsecondary education: generative AI procurement standards and training — received final legislative approval when the Assembly concurred 79–0 in Senate amendments on August 26, 2026, and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would require a joint California Community Colleges and California State University working group, with requested University of California participation, to recommend procurement standards and training before covered generative-AI systems are provided to students, faculty, or staff. See: August 26 update.
• CA A 2656 — Public employees: notice before generative-AI deployment — received final legislative approval when the Assembly concurred 74–2 in Senate amendments on August 25, 2026, and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would require covered state and local public employers to provide a recognized employee organization at least 45 days’ written notice before developing, purchasing, implementing, or using generative AI to perform represented work. See: August 25 update.
• CA A 412 — Generative Artificial Intelligence: Training Data — held under submission by Senate Appropriations on August 13, 2026; would have required generative-AI developers to document covered copyrighted training materials and provide an information-request mechanism for rights holders. See: August 13 update.
• CA S 1159 — Artificial intelligence: transparency and governance — received final legislative approval when the Senate concurred in Assembly amendments 37–0 on August 20, 2026, and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would exclude AI systems, autonomous agents, robots, and other nonhuman entities from specified public-participation terms while preserving access by people using assistive technology. See: August 20 update.
• CA S 503 — Medical clinical decision-support systems: biased-impact safeguards — received final legislative approval when the Senate concurred 39–0 in Assembly amendments on August 25, 2026, and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would require developers and deployers to identify foreseeable biased-impact risks, describe intended uses and known risks, monitor deployed systems, and take reasonable mitigation steps. See: August 25 update.
• CA S 574 — Court A.I. Protection Act — received final legislative approval on August 31, 2026, when the Senate concurred 39–0 in Assembly amendments and ordered the bill engrossed and enrolled; would establish generative-AI confidentiality and output-verification duties for attorneys and prohibit arbitrators from delegating decision-making to generative AI. See: August 31 update.
• CA S 947 — Employment: automated decision systems — received final legislative approval on August 31, 2026 and was ordered engrossed and enrolled; would bar employers from relying solely on automated decision systems for discipline, termination, or deactivation and require human corroboration when those systems are primarily relied upon.

Historical tracker

May 1, 2026 tracker snapshot

These entries retain the historical NCSL snapshot used by the former state directory. Status labels, including “pending,” “enacted,” “failed,” and “vetoed,” describe that snapshot, not a current-status assessment. This is not a complete inventory of enacted law.

NCSL’s May 1, 2026 snapshot lists 50 AI-related 2026 measures for California.

Other measures recorded in the snapshot

• CA A 1609 — Customer Service Chatbots; pending; Prohibits a large private business from representing that a customer service chatbot is a human. Requires the large private business to provide certain.... Topics: Private Sector Use.
• CA A 1705 — Pornographic Internet Websites; pending; Requires an operator of a pornographic internet website, among other things, to exercise ordinary care and reasonable diligence to ensure that each inst.... Topics: Deepfake.
• CA A 1766 — Health Curriculum Framework: Human Trafficking; pending; Requires the Instructional Quality Commission, when the health curriculum framework is next revised on or after January 1, 2027, to consider providing f.... Topics: Deepfake, Education Use.
• CA A 1792 — Pupil Instruction: Health Framework: Sexual Health; pending; Requires the Instructional Quality Commission, during the next revision of the publication �Health Framework for California Public Schools,� to consider.... Topics: Deepfake, Education Use.
• CA A 1898 — Workplace Artificial Intelligence Tools; pending; Requires an employer to provide a written notice to a worker that a workplace artificial intelligence tool was used to assist the employer in making emp.... Topics: Effect on Labor/Employment, Private Sector Use, Private Right of Action.
• CA A 1946 — Reporting Mechanism: Child Sexual Abuse Material; pending; Makes a social media company liable to a depicted individual, as defined, for actual and statutory damages, as provided. Imposes a civil penalty on a no.... Topics: Child Pornography, Criminal Use, Deepfake.
• CA A 1979 — Health Care Services: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office or a group practice to ensure that no clinical decision, is based solely on the output.... Topics: Health Use, Private Sector Use.
• CA A 1988 — Companion Chatbots: Crisis Interruption Pauses; pending; Provides for the Preventing AI User Self Endangerment (PAUSE) Act. Requires an operator of companion chatbots to adopt and make publicly available a pol.... Topics: Health Use, Private Sector Use.
• CA A 2023 — Companion Chatbots: Childrens Safety; pending; Relates to artificial intelligence. Requires an operator of a companion chatbot to, on or before specified date to do various things with respect to chi.... Topics: Health Use, Notification, Private Right of Action.
• CA A 2027 — Worker Data: Prohibitions: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Prohibits an employer from using a workers personal information to train an artificial intelligence system to replicate, automate, or replace a workers.... Topics: Private Sector Use, Private Right of Action.
• CA A 2169 — Social Media Platforms: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Enacts the Digital Choice Act. Requires a social media company or a person that makes an artificial intelligence model available to a third party for us.... Topics: Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA A 2291 — Pupil Safety: Nonconsensual Artificial Intimate Images; pending; Requires the State Department of Education to conduct a study on nonconsensual artificial intimate images involving pupils in the specified grades. Requ.... Topics: Deepfake, Education Use.
• CA A 2403 — Income Tax: Credits: Commercial Production; pending; Excludes any commercial that is created entirely by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, or that utilizes generative artificial intelligenc.... Topics: Deepfake, Private Sector Use, Taxes.
• CA A 2412 — State Agencies or Departments: Public Communications; pending; Provides that existing law requires a State agency or department that utilizes generative artificial intelligence to directly communicate with a person.... Topics: Government Use, Notification.
• CA A 2487 — Artificial Intelligence: Education and Workforce; pending; Enacts the Artificial Intelligence Education and Workforce Development Act to accomplish specified goals, including, among others, empowering and suppor.... Topics: Education Use, Education/Training, Effect on Labor/Employment.
• CA A 2504 — Community Colleges: Artificial Intelligence: Pilot; pending; Relates to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Requires the chancellors office to implement the Future of Creative Industries Pilot Pro.... Topics: Education/Training, Effect on Labor/Employment, Notification, Private Sector Use, Studies.
• CA A 2545 — Report: Labor Force Impact: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Establishes the State Artificial Intelligence Worker Impact Data Assessment Project and establishes the State Artificial Intelligence Worker Impact Data.... Topics: Effect on Labor/Employment, Studies.
• CA A 2575 — Health Care Services: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice that uses or deploys a clinical decision support system, as define.... Topics: Health Use, Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA A 2582 — Crimes: Prostitution; pending; Requires a person who commits prostitution with intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person to, for a first or secon.... Topics: Criminal Use, Deepfake.
• CA A 2583 — Small Business Advocate: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Enacts the AI for Main Street Act, which would require the Small Business Advocate to provide assistance to small businesses in evaluating artificial in.... Topics: Cybersecurity, Private Sector Use.
• CA A 2653 — State Contracts: Report: Modern Foundation Models; pending; Requires the Department of Industrial Relations, in consultation with the Department of Technology, to convene a Foundation Model Labor and Procurement.... Topics: Government Use.
• CA A 2713 — California AI Transparency Act: System Provenance Data; pending; Provides that the State AI Transparency Act requires a large online platform to detect whether any provenance data that is compliant with widely adopted.... Topics: Deepfake, Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA S 1000 — California AI Transparency Act; pending; Provides that the California AI Transparency Act requires a covered provider to make available an AI detection tool at no cost to the user. Provides tha.... Topics: Private Sector Use, Provenance.
• CA S 1011 — Energy: Utility Infrastructure AI Safety; pending; Requires every public utility to furnish and maintain adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service, instrumentalities, equipment, and facilities, a.... Topics: Energy.
• CA S 1015 — Crimes: Minors; pending; Makes any adult person who recruits, induces, coerces, or persuades a minor to commit an illegal act against another minor, or to solicit physical harm,.... Topics: Child Pornography, Criminal Use, Deepfake.
• CA S 1050 — False Advertising: Synthetic Digital Performers; pending; Makes it an unlawful advertising practice for a person to create and cause to be published in an advertising medium an advertisement that includes a syn.... Topics: Deepfake, Notification, Private Sector Use. Current update: signed September 16, 2026; see SB 1050 coverage.
• CA S 1111 — Digital Replicas; pending; Provides that existing law creates a civil cause of action against any person who knowingly uses the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of.... Topics: Deepfake, Judicial Use.
• CA S 1142 — Digital Dignity Act; pending; Enacts the Digital Dignity Act. Provides that subject to specified liability a person who, by distributing content with actual knowledge that the conten.... Topics: Deepfake.
• CA S 1146 — Advertisement Claims: Health Related Consumer Products; pending; Requires, subject to specified exceptions, a person who creates or causes to be created an advertisement that includes the image, audio, or video of a d.... Topics: Deepfake, Health Use, Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA S 1217 — Nonconsensual Intimate Image Clearinghouse; pending; Requires the Department of Justice to establish the Nonconsensual Intimate Image Clearinghouse to allow individuals who were exploited in the State to s.... Topics: Child Pornography, Criminal Use, Deepfake.
• CA S 1248 — State Agencies: Automated Decision Systems; pending; Imposes certain restrictions on the use of an automated decision system by a state agency to confer services, defined as, among other things, the issuan.... Topics: Government Use, Notification, Responsible Use.
• CA S 1276 — Crimes: Sexual Exploitation of a Child; pending; Makes a person guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony if the person downloads, streams, or accesses through electronic or digital media material that depic.... Topics: Child Pornography, Criminal Use, Deepfake.
• CA S 300 — Companion Chatbots; pending; Require a companion chatbot operator to take the above actions when it has constructive knowledge that a user is a minor. Requires an operator to preven.... Topics: Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA S 607 — California Institutes for Science and Innovation; pending; Provides that existing law authorizes the Regents of the University of California to establish 4 California Institutes for Science and Innovation at sep.... Topics: Education Use.
• CA S 719 — Department of Technology: Inventory; pending; Provides that existing law, until January 1, 2029, requires the Department of Technology to annually submit to certain legislative committees a report r.... Topics: Government Use, Oversight/Governance.
• CA S 903 — Mental Health Professionals: Artificial Intelligence; pending; Regulates the use of artificial intelligence by licensed professionals providing psychotherapy services. Prohibits an individual, corporation, or entity.... Topics: Health Use, Notification.
• CA S 916 — Civil Actions: Housing Development Projects; pending; Provides that existing law provides that in a civil action brought by a plaintiff to challenge a housing development project that meets or exceeds the r.... Topics: Deepfake, Private Sector Use.
• CA S 951 — Employment: Technological Displacement: Notice; pending; Requires an employer to provide a written technology hiring disruption notice to the Employment Development Department and the local workforce investmen.... Topics: Effect on Labor/Employment, Notification, Private Sector Use.
• CA S 430 — Local Agencies: Automated Decision Systems; failed; Imposes certain restrictions on the use of an automated decision system by a local agency to confer supportive services, permits, or licenses. Includes.... Topics: Government Use.

Related people

• Scott Wiener — profile, legislative records and policy statements.

Related articles

• United States policy on catastrophic AI risk