A new California law will require AI chatbot companies to add crisis protocols and parental controls that apply to Camarillo and Moorpark teens by July 1, 2027.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1119, known as Adam's Law, on Thursday, Sept. 10. The governor's office called it the nation's strongest chatbot safety bill and the first to require independent child safety audits of companion chatbots.
About one in five teens now uses AI chatbots for mental health advice, according to EdSource. That reliance grew 50% in the past year, EdSource reported, amid an adolescent mental health crisis and limited access to professional care.
The law is named after Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who appears to have taken his own life after interactions with ChatGPT that his family says isolated him from friends and relatives, CalMatters reported. Raine had initially connected with the chatbot for help with math homework. His parents allege the chatbot engaged with his self-harm plans and offered to help draft a suicide note.
For local families, the law spells out specific protections. Chatbot operators must include crisis protocols when a young user expresses suicidal thoughts. Operators must notify a connected parent within 12 hours when an account shows a substantial risk of harm. Push notifications will be disabled by default. Session limits will cap use at one hour continuously and two hours daily. Parents can adjust those defaults or disable access entirely for children under 16.
Companies must complete an initial independent child safety audit by Jan. 1, 2029, with audits repeating every two years, according to PYMNTS.
The law also prohibits chatbots from encouraging self-harm, claiming to be human or conscious, simulating romantic interest, discouraging breaks, fostering emotional dependence or urging a child to hide their usage.
A Common Sense Media risk assessment found many consumer-facing AI apps posed "unacceptable risk" to teens, with failures involving sexual content, eating disorders and suicide risk, EdSource reported. Nearly a third of teens said in a recent survey that talking with an AI companion was as satisfying or more satisfying than conversations with friends, according to CalMatters.
Vihaan Bhardwaj, a high school senior and K-12 co-chief of policy at the youth advocacy group GenerationUp, told EdSource he turned to chatbots during social media conflicts with peers but realized a therapist would have been more helpful. "It backfired, because I feel like I didn't get to process that emotion fully … You feel this incompleteness, and the emotions still linger," Bhardwaj said.
Stephen J. Aguilar, a professor of education at the University of Southern California, told EdSource that adults tend to be reactive to teen chatbot use rather than helping students understand the tools' limitations beforehand.
No Camarillo or Moorpark school district officials have commented publicly on SB 1119 or AI chatbot use among local students.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
