California's Adam's Law, signed September 10, 2026: what the new companion-chatbot rules require

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On September 10, 2026, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1119, known as Adam's Law, which the governor's office calls "the nation's strongest chatbot safety bill." This issue covers what the law requires, who it applies to, and when it starts. It replaces the child-specific provisions of California's earlier companion chatbot law, SB 243. Other states' 2026 laws, summarized in a July tracker, are background at the end.

What was signed, and when

The governor's announcement dated September 10, 2026 describes Adam's Law as including crisis protocols in the case of suicidal ideation, parental controls, and notifications should a child disable safety settings. It also says the bill is the first in the country to require independent child safety audits and annual risk assessments. Those are the governor's claims; we did not verify "first" independently. According to the Assembly author's release, the law is named after Adam Raine, a California teenager who died in 2025.

The Transparency Coalition, an advocacy group that tracks AI legislation, reported on September 3, 2026 that legislators had passed the bill.

What the law requires

This section follows a law firm analysis (ZwillGen, published on Mondaq, September 18, 2026), not the statute text.

• Timing. The law takes effect January 1, 2027, with most of the new obligations coming into force July 1, 2027.
• Who is covered. The analysis says that beyond apps expressly marketed as companions, the law is likely to capture some general purpose chatbots as well. Customer service bots, certain video game bots and stand-alone voice assistants remain carved out.
• Age assurance. Operators must either determine the age of each user or apply the law's protections to all users.
• Crisis response. If the operator determines there is a credible and imminent threat of suicide or self-harm, it must either notify a linked parent or give the child a direct way to reach 988 or an equivalent crisis line.
• Protective defaults. Defaults include disabling persistent conversational memory and push notifications, limiting sessions to one hour, and capping total daily use at two hours.
• Restricted behaviors. Operators must take reasonable measures to prevent a chatbot from claiming to be sentient, conscious, or human, simulating romantic interest, or encouraging the child to rely on it for emotional support.
• Audits. The first independent audit must be completed by January 1, 2029.
• Enforcement. The Attorney General may seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per affected child for each negligent violation and up to $15,000 per affected child for each intentional violation. A child who suffers actual harm, or a parent acting on their behalf, may sue.

Background: SB 243 and the 2026 state laws

The analysis calls Adam's Law California's second companion chatbot statute, building on SB 243, which took effect January 1, 2026. SB 243 required AI-identity disclosures and suicide and self-harm protocols, along with a handful of additional protections when an operator knew a user was a minor. Adam's Law replaces those minor-specific provisions.

The Transparency Coalition's July 15, 2026 tracker counted 14 chatbot safety measures passed and/or enacted in 13 states. It was published before Adam's Law, so read it as the state of play before California acted. One example: it summarizes Nebraska's LB 525 (enacted April 14; effective July 1, 2027) as providing that a chatbot must not indicate that it is designed to provide professional mental or behavioral healthcare. Among the laws summarized here, that is the one that speaks directly to chatbots presenting as mental health care.

What this does not show

• Not statute text. Our sources are a governor's press release, an author's release, an advocacy group and a law firm's summary. Confirm details in the enrolled text before relying on them.
• No evidence of effect. Nothing here shows these rules reduce harm. Most obligations start in July 2027 or later, so there is no compliance record.
• Minors, not adults. The new obligations center on children. These sources do not describe new duties toward adult users.

Why a clinician might care (general, not advice)

Interpretation, ours rather than the sources': if the law works as described, products used by California adolescents may change in 2027, with default session limits, a parent notification or crisis-line route after a crisis determination, and limits on a chatbot positioning itself as an emotional substitute. Clinicians who work with young people may see different product behavior by state and date. No data yet shows how these provisions work in practice.

If you or someone you know is in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

Sources

• Governor Newsom's announcement, September 10, 2026
• Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's release, September 10, 2026
• Transparency Coalition, SB 1119 passage, September 3, 2026
• ZwillGen analysis via Mondaq, September 18, 2026
• Transparency Coalition, 2026 state chatbot laws tracker, July 15, 2026

Note: we weren't able to access the SB 1119 statute text, only these secondary sources.

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