Technology

Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency (GovOps) , and establishes within the agency the Department of Technology. Existing law requires the Department of Technology to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency. Existing law defines, for these purposes, an "automated decision system" as, among other things, a computational process that is used to assist or replace human discretionary decisionmaking and materially impacts natural persons. Existing law establishes various public assistance and social programs administered by state agencies, including the Department of Social Services and the Employment Development Department. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of specified professions and vocations by boards and bureaus within the Department of Consumer Affairs. This bill would impose certain restrictions on the use of an automated decision system by a state agency to confer services, defined as, among other things, the issuance of professional licenses and provision of public benefits. Among the restrictions, the bill would include a prohibition on using an output from the system as the sole basis for an adverse service determination affecting a natural person, except as specified. The bill would require the state agency to verify the accuracy of the system's outputs and to promote nondiscrimination in its use, as specified. The bill would require the director or designee of a state agency to provide for quality control review of the outputs, as specified, to assure acceptable accuracy. This bill would authorize GovOps to develop, adopt, and make publicly available guidance for a state agency's use of automated decision systems. The bill would require GovOps to notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee before issuing the guidance. The bill would require GovOps to provide technical assistance to state agencies upon request. The bill would define terms for purposes of its provisions and would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law requires every videogame retailer to post a sign, within the retail establishment in a prominent area, providing information to consumers about a videogame rating system or notifying consumers that a rating system is available to aid in the selection of a game and to make available to consumers, upon request, information that explains the videogame rating system. Existing law, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a seller of a digital good, including a digital application or game, from advertising or offering for sale a digital good to a purchaser with the terms "buy," "purchase," or any other term that a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser, or the seller provides to the consumer before executing each transaction a clear and conspicuous statement, as specified. Existing law defines "digital application or game" to mean any application or game that a person accesses and manipulates using a specialized electronic gaming device, computer, mobile device, tablet, or other device with a display screen, including any add-ons or additional content for that application or game. This bill, with regard to digital games first available for purchase or rereleased for purchase on or after January 1, 2028, and subject to certain exceptions, would require a digital game operator to communicate specified information to purchasers and prospective purchasers of a digital game 60 days before the operator ceases to provide services necessary for the ordinary use of the game. The bill would, beginning on the date an operator ceases to provide services necessary for the ordinary use of the game, require the operator to provide the purchaser with, among other things, an alternate version of, a patch or update to, or a refund for, the game, as provided, and prohibit the operator from selling, leasing, or otherwise distributing a version of the game that cannot be used by a purchaser independent of services controlled by the operator. The bill would authorize the Attorney General or a district attorney to bring a civil action for a violation of these provisions.

Existing law, the California AI Transparency Act, requires, among other things, a person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative artificial intelligence (AI) system that has over 1,000,000 monthly visitors or users and is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state to make available an AI detection tool at no cost to the user. Existing law requires the AI detection tool to, among other things, allow a user to assess whether the image, video, or audio content was created or altered by that person's generative AI system. Existing law defines terms for these purposes and makes these provisions generally operative on August 2, 2026. Existing law also requires a large online platform to comply with specific duties relating to artificial intelligence, including, among other duties, allowing a user to inspect all available system provenance data that is compliant with widely adopted specifications adopted by an established standards-setting body by specified means. Existing law prohibits a large online platform from knowingly stripping any system provenance data or digital signature that is compliant with widely adopted specifications adopted by an established standards-setting body from content uploaded or distributed on the large online platform. Existing law makes these provisions, relating to a large online platform, operative on January 1, 2027. This bill would revise the duties and prohibitions applicable to a large online platform relating to artificial intelligence, including the requirement for allowing a user to inspect system provenance data. The bill would specify that these provisions do not require a large online platform to take any action with respect to provenance data, system provenance data, or digital signatures that are not compliant with widely adopted specifications issued by an established standards-setting body.

The California Constitution provides that people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. Various provisions of existing law, including the California Public Records Act, the Legislative Open Records Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, and the Ralph M. Brown Act, provide, with some exceptions, for public access to government records and meetings of government bodies. Among those acts, the California Public Records Act defines "person" to include any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, or association. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs, among other things, the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) , requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA defines "person" to include any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, limited liability company, company, district, county, city and county, city, town, and, among other things, the state. Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, establishes the California Coastal Commission and prescribes procedures for the preparation, approval, and certification of local coastal programs that regulate development in the coastal zone, as defined, in jurisdictions that have a certified local coastal program. This bill would specify that, for purposes of the California Public Records Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Legislative Open Records Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the California Coastal Act of 1976, and CEQA, "person," "interested person," "participant," "member of the public," as applicable, and any other similar terms under each act referring to those who may engage with governmental agencies, do not include artificial intelligence, as defined, systems, autonomous agents, or robots, whether physical or digital. The bill would authorize governmental agencies to use a disclosure verification tool to determine if artificial intelligence is present. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions. The bill would prohibit a person from knowingly using artificial intelligence to falsely represent that a natural person appeared before, submitted information to, or otherwise engaged with a governmental agency. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one segment of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to provide instruction at the campuses they operate and maintain. Existing law establishes the California Online Community College, under the administration of the board of governors, for specified purposes, and requires the college to develop a Research and Development Unit to, among other things, focus on using technology, data science, behavioral science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to build out student supports. This bill would enact the Artificial Intelligence Education and Workforce Development Act to accomplish specified goals, including, among others, empowering and supporting community college instructors in using and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly in administrative and classroom settings, and strengthening the state's AI and technology workforce pipeline by upskilling and educating all workers so they can benefit from AI. This bill would require the California Community Colleges, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to, among other things, develop and disseminate to community college districts statewide guidance on the use of AI in community colleges, explore, facilitate, and support specified partnerships to develop and implement AI literacy and skills development initiatives, support the integration of AI literacy into the preparation and ongoing professional development of community college instructors, and establish a pilot program encouraging integration and adoption of AI tools in community college classrooms, as specified. The bill would also require the California Community Colleges, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to submit a report to the Legislature based on findings provided by a working group convened by the California Community Colleges for this purpose that includes, among other things, a summary of barriers to support community college districts in providing and deploying cloud-based AI services into administrative or educational settings in community colleges, as specified. Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as "GO-Biz," to, among other duties, serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within GO-Biz to advocate for causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. This bill would require the Office of Small Business Advocate, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish and maintain for small businesses educational resources and modules containing information on specified topics related to AI, as provided. The bill would require the office, within one year following funding, to prepare and submit a progress report to the Legislature and other appropriate state officials and agencies summarizing its efforts in developing and publishing the educational resources and modules. The bill would require the office to convene an AI advisory group, with a prescribed membership, and consult with other state agencies and individuals, as specified, regarding the educational resources and modules. This bill would require GO-Biz, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and in close partnership with the California Community Colleges, to support training, reskilling, and upskilling initiatives for workers using AI or supporting the AI industry in order to bolster state economic competitiveness and maximize opportunities for the labor force. The bill would require GO-Biz, on or before January 1, 2029, and every 2 years thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature and other appropriate state officials and agencies summarizing its efforts on the initiatives. This bill would also require GO-Biz, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish local AI training hubs, including physical or virtual centers that provide education and hands-on training in AI development and application for the purpose of building a skilled local workforce, as provided. The bill would require GO-Biz, upon appropriation by the Legislature and in coordination with other state agencies, to convene a working group to administer a statewide program to develop the skilled workforce to support infrastructure and energy requirements of the AI industry, as provided. The bill would authorize funding to be awarded through a competitive application process to local workforce development boards and other specified entities to deliver education and hands-on experience in AI data center operations, energy infrastructure, and other sectors, as provided. The bill would also require GO-Biz to undertake other specified duties related to workforce development.

Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, develop, and the State Board of Education to adopt, modify, or revise, model curriculum frameworks, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, when the health curriculum framework is next revised on or after January 1, 2025, to consider providing for inclusion, in that curriculum framework, content on sextortion, as defined. Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education from instructors trained in the appropriate courses, at least once in junior high or middle school and at least once in high school. Under the act, this instruction includes, among other things, information about human trafficking. Existing law requires school districts, as part of the requirement of the California Healthy Youth Act that pupils receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education from instructors trained in the appropriate courses, to ensure the periodic conduction of continuation training to enable school district personnel to learn about new developments in the understanding of, among other things, human trafficking, and to receive instruction on current prevention resources, as provided. This bill would require the commission, when the health curriculum framework is next revised on or after January 1, 2027, to consider providing for inclusion in that framework content related to human trafficking and online safety, including how to prevent human trafficking, how to prevent exploitation for labor and services, how to stay safe from sexually exploitative materials and deepfakes online, foundational digital citizenship skills, and skills-based content that builds protective factors, as provided. The bill would require the topics considered to follow a cumulative, age-appropriate progression from kindergarten to grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education to curate and maintain information on its internet website related to the above-described topics, and related recommended training for educators, as provided.

This bill designates March 21, 2026, as California Women in STEM Day to recognize the contributions of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The measure requires state officials to issue a proclamation announcing this specific date and the purpose of the observance. As a commemorative resolution, it does not alter laws, allocate funding, or create new programs, but rather establishes an official day for public acknowledgment.

Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to, as appropriate, perform a risk analysis of potential threats posed by the use of generative artificial intelligence to California's critical infrastructure, including those that could lead to mass casualty events. Existing law requires that risk analysis to be provided to the Governor, and, if appropriate, include recommendations reflecting changes to artificial intelligence technology, its applications, and risk management, including further private actions, administrative actions, and collaboration with the Legislature to guard against potential threats and vulnerabilities. This bill would require that recommendations in the risk analysis reflecting changes to artificial intelligence technology include agentic artificial intelligence, as defined. Existing law requires the Department of Technology to annually submit to certain legislative committees a report regarding a specified required comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems that have been, or are being, used, developed, or procured by a state agency. Existing law defines "high-risk automated decision system" to mean an automated decision system that is used to assist or replace human discretionary decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect, including decisions that materially impact access to, or approval for, housing or accommodations, education, employment, credit, health care, and criminal justice. This bill would further require the comprehensive inventory in the report to include agentic artificial intelligence that has been, or is being, used, developed, or procured by a state agency.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before January 1, 2024, to develop a plan to expand mental health instruction in California public schools. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop a plan to expand digital wellness instruction in California public schools, as provided.

Existing law establishes the Low-Income Oversight Board and requires the Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the Public Utilities Commission on low-income electricity, gas, and water customer issues, and to, among other things, monitor and evaluate implementation of all programs provided to low-income electricity, gas, and water customers. This bill would establish the Low-Income Telecommunications Advisory Board with specified membership. The bill would require the Low-Income Telecommunications Advisory Board to, among other things, advise the commission on low-income telecommunications customer issues, serve as a liaison for the commission to low-income customers and stakeholders, provide certain reports to the Legislature, and monitor and evaluate implementation of all programs provided to low-income telecommunications customers, as provided. The bill would require the commission, in conjunction with the Low-Income Telecommunications Advisory Board, to increase participation in programs for low-income telecommunications customers and ensure that the cost burden of low-income telecommunications customers is reduced, as specified. Existing law vests the commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law, the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act, establishes the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service program to provide low-income households with access to affordable basic residential telephone service. This bill would require the commission to administer the lifeline program in a technologically inclusive manner and would prohibit the commission from discriminating against lifeline providers by adopting rules that favor or disfavor certain providers. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be part of the act, and a violation of a commission action implementing its provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.