SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — California is moving to impose some of the nation's strongest protections for children who interact with artificial intelligence after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping new law aimed at regulating AI companion chatbots. Senate Bill 1119, known as Adam's Law, was signed into law last week and established new requirements for AI chatbot companies designed to protect minors from potentially harmful interactions. The legislation was authored by state Sen. Steve Padilla, a Democrat who represents San Diego, along with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and Rebecca Baur-Kahan. The law is named after after Adam Raine, a California teenager who died in 2025. According to the bill's authors, Adam's family has said he interacted with a ChatGPT before his death and the chatbot coached him to end his life. Adam's parents, Matt and Maria Raine, attended the signing ceremony and have advocated for stronger safeguards around AI chatbots. National Park Service proposes expanded bicycle, e-bike access at parks "We still have not adjusted to life without Adam, but we are pleased that an element of his legacy is to help make AI chatbots safer for minors," the Raine family said in a statement. What Adam's Law requires The new law establishes a range of requirements for companies operating AI companion chatbots that interact with children. Among other provisions, the law requires the following: Age assurance: AI-operators must use privacy-protective age-bracket signals to identify minors. Risk assessments: Companies must conduct assessments before releasing a new or substantially modified companion chatbot. Crisis support: Platforms must provide referrals to mental health resources when appropriate and notify a parent when there is a credible threat of imminent self-harm or when the operator knows a child has engaged in self-harm. Parental controls: Certain protections, including limits on notifications, usages and persistent conversational memory, will be enabled by default and can only be changed by a parent. Restrictions on harmful content: Companies can face liability for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent certain "harmful outputs," including self-harm content, sexually explicit material, romantic roleplaying and emotionally manipulative interactions. Incident reporting: Operators must establish an incident-reporting system overseen by the California attorney general. Advertising restrictions: The law limits targeted advertising to children within conversational chats. Privacy protections: The law establishes privacy requirements that go beyond those in the California Consumer Privacy Act. Independent audits: AI operators must undergo independent compliance audits, with findings submitted to the attorney general. Family redress: Families can seek legal resources for certain violations involving crisis referrals, parental notification, default protections and prohibited harmful outputs. San Diego lawmaker calls for action Padilla, whose district represents San Diego, said California needed to act rather than repeat what he described as mistakes made with social media. ”California is filling the void created by Washington inaction, taking bold action to protect our children," said Padilla. “Adam’s Law will save the lives of children here in California and across the country as it becomes a national model." Governor Newsom said the legislation reflects the state's position that technological innovation must be accompanied by safeguards for children. “As innovation moves faster our protections must keep pace,” Newsom said. “Innovation comes with responsibility and protecting our children comes first.” The Padilla-penned legislation passed the state Senate unanimously, with lawmakers approving it 64-4 in late August with bipartisan support. ...read more read less