California Governor Newsom Faces Deadline for Privacy and AI Bills

Several Democrat-led privacy and AI bills were sent to Governor Newsom ahead of the September 12, 2025, deadline to pass bills. Governor Newsom must either sign or veto the bills by October 12, 2025.

• Assembly Bill 316, which would bar developers, modifiers or users of AI from claiming as a defense that the AI acted autonomously to cause harm, holding them responsible for injuries caused by their AI systems.
• Senate Bill 53, Sen. Scott Wiener’s AI transparency bill, which now covers large AI programs and gives companies with more than $500 million in revenue greater obligations, would require frontier AI programs trained by companies that fall below the revenue threshold to disclose more basic, higher-level safety details.
• Senate Bill 243, which would require AI companies that operate chatbot services to clearly disclose when users are interacting with AI and implement and publish protocols to prevent suicide or self-harm content (especially for minors), and allow for a private right of action.
• LEAD for Kids Act (Assembly Bill 1064), which would prohibit developers from creating AI companion chatbots or biometric-processing systems intended for children without parental consent, establish civil penalties enforceable by the Attorney General and grant children and parents a private right of action for harm caused.
• Senate Bill 524, which would require police to disclose AI use in preparing reports.
• Assembly Bill 489, which would extend existing laws that prohibit falsely implying a health care license to also cover AI and generative AI (GAI) systems, banning them from using terms or phrases suggesting licensed health care professionals and making violations enforceable and punishable by the appropriate boards.

• Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
• Technology