California Must Maintain Its Leadership By Regulating Chatbots And Avoid Banning Them In Our Livelihood
The California Legislature just concluded its legislative session on September 13, 2025, and sent Governor Newsom many significant and consequential legislation that can alter the day-to-day lives of Californians. A significant policy discussion in the last week of the legislative session is how to regulate chatbots in California as they become more part of our day-to-day lives.
By Earl “Skip” Cooper II
The California Legislature just concluded its legislative session on September 13, 2025, and sent Governor Newsom many significant and consequential legislation that can alter the day-to-day lives of Californians. A significant policy discussion in the last week of the legislative session is how to regulate chatbots in California as they become more part of our day-to-day lives.
We have all used chatbots in our day-to-day activities because they are helpful to facilitate our needs such as dealing with a bank, shopping online, or license renewals with government agencies. But many are probably unaware that chatbots do more than interact with humans in daily activities. For example, chatbot technologies have capabilities that have been helpful in early detection of cancer in young children. Chatbots can also help promote children’s literacy.
That chatbots should be regulated to protect children is not debatable. Attempts by Senator Padilla (SB 243) and Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan (AB 1064) to address chatbots and make companies responsible for harm that they may cause are legitimate. But banning chatbots, a potential consequence of AB 1064’s framework, is an extreme and misguided approach.
If AB 1064 is signed into law, useful chatbot technology in health care and education are likely to become unavailable for young people and others, the very same group AB 1064 believes it is protecting. AB 1064 wrongfully assumes that effectively banning chatbot products will protect children in California. We live in a large world where chatbots will continue to operate in 49 other states and internationally. If AB 1064 is signed into law, the world will continue advancing uses of chatbots and will move on without California.
Many Californians are reasonable minded people that do not live in Sacramento or Orinda and have practical needs in their day-to-day lives including the help of chatbots. The choice for Governor Newsom is straightforward, regulate and put reasonable accountability on chatbots rather than exert extreme measures.
Governor Newsom is center stage as the leader of the Golden State, and with that leadership comes challenging policy issues. Now is the time for California to lead and demonstrate that complex problems have a middle ground that can provide the right balance between regulation and how Californians live their day-to-day lives. Chatbots should have guardrails but banning them is not the answer. Governor Newsom should veto AB 1064.
