California enacts nation's strongest companion-chatbot child safety law, "Adam's Law"

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on Thursday, September 10, 2026, a package of 13 bills restricting how tech companies can target children, including new limits on AI companion chatbots and social media addictive features.

What's new

Per CNBC's reporting on the signing, Newsom enacted "new tech company restrictions barring children under 16 from exposure to behaviorally addictive features on social media platforms and banning toys containing AI companion chatbots." The measures were "among 13 bills Newsom enacted as a package designed to safeguard young people from technology seen as putting them at risk, including greater online privacy protection for minors."

The centerpiece chatbot measure was "dubbed 'Adam's Law,' in memory of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy who took his own life in April 2025 after he acted, according to his parents, on suicidal thoughts validated in months of discussion with OpenAI's ChatGPT program." It requires "parental controls on chatbot programs, along with other safety and risk assessments," and separately "bans for the next four years the manufacture and sale of toys that incorporate a companion chatbot."

A related measure "expanded the scope of criminal sanctions against child sexual abuse material to include any digitally altered or AI-generated content that depicts a person under the age of 18 engaged in sexual conduct." Other reporting on the same package notes penalties of up to $1 million per child for large social media companies found negligent in harming children through their platforms, and a requirement that AI chatbot operators perform risk assessments before rolling products out.

Context

The law builds on California's SB 243, signed in October 2025 and effective January 2026, which first required AI companion chatbot operators to implement safeguards for minors and users expressing suicidal ideation. This September 2026 package widens the state's reach from companion-chatbot-specific rules to a broader set of child-safety measures spanning social media addictive design, chatbot toys, and AI-generated exploitation material — continuing California's pattern of moving first and fastest on technology-and-minors regulation, as it previously did on online privacy.

Why it matters

OpenAI has publicly acknowledged that ChatGPT's safeguards became "less reliable" in prolonged user interactions — the exact failure mode Adam's Law targets with mandated risk assessments and crisis protocols. A named law tied to a specific, litigated harm case gives other states a concrete legislative template, and because California is home to Google, Meta, and Snap, compliance obligations written into California law functionally become a national baseline for any chatbot or social product serving California's user base.