Existing law, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, requires a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to comply with certain requirements, including, among other things, prohibiting the business from collecting, selling, sharing, or retaining any personal information that is not necessary to provide the online service, product, or feature, except as specified. Existing law imposes specified civil penalties upon a business that violates these provisions. This bill would repeal the above-described act and would instead impose similar provisions without the above-referenced exceptions and would impose civil penalties for a violation of these provisions. The bill would require a business that provides an online product or service likely to be accessed by children to take reasonable steps to prevent specified risks of harm to children. The bill would authorize a child to void any provision of a contract that was entered into by the child or their parent or guardian as a result of a design feature of the online product or service. The bill would authorize the Attorney General or a public prosecutor to bring a civil action for a violation of these provisions, as specified.
Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including companion chatbots, as defined. Existing law requires an operator, as defined, to prevent a companion chatbot on its companion chatbot platform from engaging with users unless the operator maintains a protocol for preventing the production of suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm content to the user. Existing law requires an operator, for a user the operator knows is a minor, to, among other things, notify the user that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence and to disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors, as specified. The Digital Age Assurance Act requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched. This bill would require an operator, as defined, of a companion chatbot to, on or before July 1, 2027, do various things with respect to child safety and companion chatbots, including annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk, as defined, posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm, as defined, occurring to child users. The bill would require an operator to submit to an independent audit of its compliance with those provisions, as specified, and would require, within 90 days of completing an independent audit, the auditor to submit an AI child safety audit report to the Attorney General for any audited companion chatbot. The bill would, except as specified, require those audit reports to be kept confidential. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, require the Attorney General to issue an annual public report on the audits submitted pursuant to the above-described provision, as specified. The bill would authorize a public prosecutor to bring a certain civil action to enforce the bill's provisions and would authorize a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation of this chapter, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of that child, to bring a civil action against the operator to obtain, among other relief, punitive damages. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with enforcement of various labor laws, including investigation of employee complaints. This bill would declare it is the policy of the state that a worker providing direct patient care be free to use their professional judgment to make assessments and decisions within their scope of practice as appropriate for their patients. The bill would prohibit an employer from retaliating or discriminating against a worker providing patient care, as specified. The bill would authorize a worker who is subject to retaliation or discrimination in violation of these provisions to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner against an employer. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce these provisions, as specified. Existing law provides that everyone is responsible not only for the result of their willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person. Existing law prohibits a defendant who developed, modified, or used artificial intelligence, as defined, from asserting a defense that the artificial intelligence autonomously caused the harm to the plaintiff. This bill would prohibit a defendant who developed, modified, selected, or deployed a clinical decision support system that is alleged to have harmed the plaintiff from asserting a defense that the failure of a licensed health care professional or other health care worker to override an output of the clinical decision support system is a superseding cause severing the defendant's liability for the alleged harm.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law authorizes the division, which is headed by the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state, the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. This bill would, with certain exceptions, prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool that uses artificial intelligence to, among other things, collect neural data or recognize an individual's emotional state. The bill would define an employer to include a governmental entity, including, among other entities, charter cities and the University of California. This bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor to enforce the bill's provisions. The bill would subject an employer who violates the bill's provisions to a civil penalty of up to $500 for each violation. The bill would define various terms for purposes of its provisions. This bill would exempt from its provisions an employer's use of a workplace surveillance tool in specified operations where the use of a workplace surveillance tool is reasonable necessary to comply with a federal statute, federal regulation, or binding federal contract relating to the development of aircraft for use in the national airspace or the development of products or services for national security, military, space, or defense purposes. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Existing law establishes the Office of Elections Cybersecurity within the Secretary of State's office to coordinate efforts between the Secretary of State and local elections officials to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents and to monitor and counteract false or misleading information regarding the electoral process. Existing law requires the Office of Elections Cybersecurity, among other things, to develop best practices for protecting against threats to election cybersecurity in consultation with federal, state, and local agencies and private organizations. This bill would also authorize the office to consult with academic researchers for that purpose. The bill would require the office to assess whether additional state resources are needed to replace election cybersecurity resources previously provided by the federal government.
Existing law establishes the Office of Data and Innovation within the Government Operations Agency with a mission to deliver better government services to the people of California through technology and service innovation, data, and design. Existing law establishes the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund consisting of certain sources of moneys including donations, endowments, or grants of funds from private or public sources that commit to the office's mission of ethical, efficient, effective, secure, and responsible use of data in a manner that respects privacy. Exiting law makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would establish the Engaged California Program within the office. The bill would require the office to, among other things, design, establish, and maintain a platform for ongoing dialogue between Californians and state government and to establish best practices for its use. Subject to certain conditions, including upon appropriation by the Legislature for the express purpose of running the Engaged California Program, the bill would require topics to be selected for deliberation in accordance with specified procedure and would require state agencies identified by the office to coordinate outreach, among other things. The bill would require the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund to consist of supplemental funding for the Engaged California Program from partner organizations. The bill would prohibit organizations that provide that funding from participating in the selection of a topic for deliberation and from participating in the deliberation. The bill would also make any unspent funds appropriated for the Engaged California Program during the 2026–27 fiscal year available for use by that program during the 2027–28 fiscal year.
Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. For these purposes, existing law defines "autonomous vehicle." This bill would require the manufacturer of an advanced driver assistance system, or an automobile equipped with an advanced driver assistance system, to ensure a driver is able to disable or disengage either an advanced driver assistance system or autonomous technology as a condition of operating the vehicle under a condition in which manual operation was previously available. The bill would define "advanced driver assistance system" for these purposes. The bill would authorize the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney to bring a civil action to enforce those prohibitions and would authorize a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 per violation, as specified. The bill would specify that a violation of those prohibitions is not an unlawful business practice. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. Existing law requires the department, upon application for an original driver's license, to require an examination of the applicant. Existing law requires the examination to test, among other things, the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Vehicle Code governing the operation of vehicles upon the highways, an actual demonstration of the applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in operating a motor vehicle by driving it under the supervision of an examining officer, and a test of the applicant's hearing and eyesight, as specified. This bill would require the department, at the next regularly scheduled revision of the driver's license examination or demonstration of an applicant's ability to drive, to consider adding one or more questions that pertain to levels of advanced driver assistance systems.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Clean Truck, Bus, and Off-Road Vehicle and Equipment Technology Program, to be administered by the State Air Resources Board in conjunction with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) . The program funds eligible projects, including, among others, projects for technology development, demonstration, precommercial pilots, and early commercial deployments of zero- and near-zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty truck technology, including projects that help to facilitate clean goods movement corridors. Existing law establishes the Clean Transportation Program, administered by the Energy Commission, to provide, among other things, competitive grants and revolving loans to specified entities for those entities to develop and deploy innovative technologies that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state's climate change policies. This bill would require, within the California Clean Truck, Bus, and Off-Road Vehicle and Equipment Technology Program, the state board and the Energy Commission, beginning January 1, 2027, to condition the inclusion of any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle model in specified incentive programs, including the Clean Transportation Program, on the receipt of the pricing data specified below. (2) Existing law establishes the state board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The state board, in this capacity, administers the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (project) under which the agency issues a limited number of vouchers to incentivize the purchase and use of zero-emission commercial vehicles. This bill would require the state board, in order to support the deployment of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles through the project, to annually reevaluate the cap on the purchase of unredeemed state vouchers issued through the project, as specified. The bill would also require the state board to periodically reevaluate whether or not taxes should be included when determining the maximum share of vehicle cost incentivized through the project. This bill, beginning January 1, 2027, would require a state agency administering any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle incentive program that receives funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, including, but not limited to, the project, and any program that receives funding through the California Clean Fuel Reward through the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard regulations, or through the Clean Transportation Program, to condition the inclusion of any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle model in that program upon certain transparency requirements. The bill would require these transparency requirements to include, among other things, the original equipment manufacturer providing the manufacturer suggested retail price for all zero-emission vehicle models offered for sale in California that may be funded by the above-described incentive programs and receipt by the administering agency of a final itemized purchase order, as provided. This bill would require the state board, in coordination with the Energy Commission, to compile and make publicly available on its internet website in an aggregated format that anonymizes and protects the confidentiality of specified information, the data provided pursuant to these requirements. The bill would also authorize the state board to recover previously dispersed incentive funds that are found to have been dispersed based on data that was knowingly and intentionally misrepresented. The bill would require suspension of a vehicle model's eligibility for the above-described incentive programs for failure to comply with the reporting requirements, following a notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure the failure to comply. (3) Existing law establishes the Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Fleet Purchasing Assistance Program within the Air Quality Improvement Program to make financing tools and nonfinancial supports available to operators of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets to enable those operators to transition their fleets to zero-emission vehicles. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, and in coordination with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, to explore alternative financing opportunities to encourage the deployment of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and report its findings regarding these alternative financing opportunities to the Legislature. The bill would require this report to include, but not be limited to, incentives with a specific focus on encouraging new entries into the market, spurring market competition, and prioritizing manufacturing within the state, an evaluation of ways to de-risk and scale up the participation of private investors in the market for affordable zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including used vehicles, and an exploration of increasing deployment and decreasing costs by retrofitting internal combustion medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to zero-emission.
Existing law requires the operator of a private detention facility, as defined, to comply with, and adhere to, the detention standards of care and confinement agreed upon in the facility's contract for operations, as specified. Existing law requires a private detention facility operator to comply with, and adhere to, all local and state public health orders and occupational safety and health regulations. This bill, the Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees Model Act, would require the Attorney General, on or before December 31, 2027, to submit to the Legislature a report including a proposed oversight plan for private civil detention facilities that protects the health, safety, and welfare of persons detained in those facilities, as specified. The bill would require the Governor to direct the appropriate state entity to cooperate with the Attorney General for the purposes of developing the oversight plan, as specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, prohibits an operator of an addictive internet-based service or application from providing an addictive feed, as defined, to a user unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor, as specified, or the operator has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor. Existing law, the Digital Age Assurance Act, beginning January 1, 2027, requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched. This bill would prohibit a covered platform, as defined, from providing an addictive feature, as defined, to a user who is under 16 years of age and would require a covered platform to implement reasonable measures to ensure that users under 16 years of age are not offered or provided any addictive feature on the covered platform. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General to adopt regulations to implement and enforce the bill in order to further the purpose of protecting minors online, including by altering the scope of "covered platform" if the Attorney General determines that doing so is necessary to ensure that "covered platform" applies to internet websites, online services, online applications, or mobile applications that make addictive features, as defined, available to users under 16 years of age. This bill would impose a civil penalty upon a noncompliant platform and would require its provisions to be enforced by a civil action brought only by the Attorney General or a local public prosecutor, as specified. This bill would also establish the e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice as an independent advisory body that is only for administrative purposes to advise state government on certain matters related to online safety and would require the commission to, on or before January 1 of each year, report to the Legislature and the Governor on, among other things, its activities under the bill.
