California Governor Signs Laws Protecting Kids From Risks of Social Media, AI Chatbots

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a comprehensive set of laws on Thursday designed to safeguard children from the dangers of technology, including social media and AI chatbots. The legislation imposes penalties of up to $1 million per child on large social media companies if they are found negligent in causing harm to young users through their platforms.

It also prohibits technology firms from providing addictive feeds to individuals under the age of 16. Furthermore, the law mandates that developers of AI chatbots conduct risk assessments prior to releasing them to the public. The governor accompanied his wife and other state legislators to a children's museum in San Francisco to underscore the significance of protecting young individuals, particularly when they have unrestricted access to social media and AI technologies.

As Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan observed, "We have designed cribs to be safe, chairs to be safe, car seats. Yet we've allowed technology to be handed to our children and never asked or expected it to be safe." Additionally, Newsom signed related measures on Wednesday, supported by Anthropic, that seek to enhance oversight of AI companies.

One provision obliges the state to establish guidelines for independent entities to evaluate the safety risks associated with AI models, while another requires the creation of a registry of AI auditors who must maintain financial independence from the businesses they audit.