WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE
How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
(a) \"Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence\"Artificial intelligence\" means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(a)\" means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.
(b)(1)–(2) \"Companion chatbotCompanion chatbot\"Companion chatbot\" means an artificial intelligence system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs and is capable of meeting a user's social needs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features and being able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(b)\" means an artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence\"Artificial intelligence\" means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(a) system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs and is capable of meeting a user's social needs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features and being able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.
(c) \"Companion chatbot platformCompanion chatbot platform\"Companion chatbot platform\" means a platform that allows a user to engage with companion chatbots.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(c)\" means a platform that allows a user to engage with companion chatbotsCompanion chatbot\"Companion chatbot\" means an artificial intelligence system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs and is capable of meeting a user's social needs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features and being able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(b).
(d) \"OfficeOffice\"Office\" means the Office of Suicide Prevention established pursuant to Section 131300 of the Health and Safety Code.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(d)\" means the Office of Suicide Prevention established pursuant to Section 131300 of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) \"OperatorOperator\"Operator\" means a person who makes a companion chatbot platform available to a user in the state.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(e)\" means a person who makes a companion chatbot platformCompanion chatbot platform\"Companion chatbot platform\" means a platform that allows a user to engage with companion chatbots.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(c) available to a user in the state.
(f) \"Sexually explicit conductSexually explicit conduct\"Sexually explicit conduct\" has the meaning defined in Section 2256 of Title 18 of the United States Code.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(f)\" has the meaning defined in Section 2256 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(g) \"ToyToy\"Toy\" means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for use in play by children under 18 years of age.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(g)\" means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for use in play by children under 18 years of age.
(h) \"Video gameVideo game\"Video game\" means a game played on an electronic amusement device that utilizes a computer, microprocessor, or similar electronic circuitry and its own monitor, or is designed to be used with a television set or a computer monitor, that interacts with the user of the device.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(h)\" means a game played on an electronic amusement device that utilizes a computer, microprocessor, or similar electronic circuitry and its own monitor, or is designed to be used with a television set or a computer monitor, that interacts with the user of the device.
Section 1 of the bill amends the existing definitions section of the companion chatbot chapter (Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601) to add a definition of Toy — a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for use in play by children under 18 years of age. The amended version broadens the age threshold from the struck prior version, which was limited to children 12 and under. All other existing definitions — including Companion chatbot, Operator, and the carve-outs for customer-service bots, video game bots, and stand-alone voice assistants — are carried forward without change.
(a) 1 No person shall manufacture, sell, or exchange, possess with intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange to any retailer any toyToy\"Toy\" means a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for use in play by children under 18 years of age.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(g) that includes a companion chatbotCompanion chatbot\"Companion chatbot\" means an artificial intelligence system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs and is capable of meeting a user's social needs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features and being able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.Bus. & Prof. Code § 22601(b).
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2031, and as of that date is repealed.
Section 22604.5 is the bill's sole operative provision. It categorically prohibits any person from manufacturing, selling, exchanging, possessing with intent to sell or exchange, or offering for sale to a retailer any toy that includes a companion chatbot. The prohibition applies across the entire supply chain — from manufacturer through retailer — and is not limited to operators of companion chatbot platforms. The provision sunsets on January 1, 2031.
The legislative digest confirms that violations are subject to the same civil liability as violations of the companion chatbot operator obligations under the existing chapter, providing a private right of action rather than criminal penalties.