CA SB 300
California SB 300 (Companion Chatbots)
Imposes disclosure obligations on companion chatbots, including periodic disclosure to minor users, complementing existing California SB 243 obligations.
Jurisdiction
California
Enacted
Pending
Effective
TBD
Enforcement
California Attorney General
Died in the Assembly at the end of the 2025-26 session without a floor vote. Passed the Senate 38-0 on January 26, 2026, cleared Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection 12-1 on July 1, 2026 and Assembly Appropriations 13-0 on August 13, 2026, and was ordered to third reading. On August 30, 2026 it was ordered to the inactive file at the request of Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry and was not taken up before the August 31, 2026 deadline for passing bills. The two-year session ends November 30, 2026.
California Legislative Information — SB 300Why It Matters
Builds on California SB 243's foundational framework with additional disclosure obligations, part of California's layered 2025-2026 companion-chatbot regulatory package.
Recent Developments
Ordered to the Assembly inactive file on August 30, 2026 (Legislature bill history), one day before the end-of-session floor deadline, so no Assembly floor vote was taken. Companion-chatbot child-safety provisions did advance in the same session through SB 1119, which passed both houses on August 31, 2026.
At a Glance
Applies to
Harms addressed
Requires
Who Must Comply
- Operators of companion chatbots available to California users
Obligations fall on:
Safety Provisions
- Non-human disclosure for companion chatbot interactions
- Periodic disclosure for minor users
Compliance & Enforcement
Penalties
Penalties pending regulatory determination
View on map
California
Focus Areas
Cite This
APA
California. (n.d.). California SB 300 (Companion Chatbots).
Related Regulations
CA SB 1119
Comprehensive companion chatbot children's safety framework establishing mandatory design features, default settings, prohibited conduct, parental controls, independent audit requirements, and a private right of action.
CA SB 53
First US frontier AI transparency law. Requires large AI developers (>$500M revenue) to publish governance frameworks, submit quarterly risk reports, and report critical safety incidents. Applies to models trained with >10^26 FLOP.
IA SF 2417
Establishes requirements and guidelines for conversational AI services including AI disclosure to minors, prohibition on sexually explicit content for minors, prevention of deceptive human-like interactions, and parental controls for children under 13.
IL HB 5511
Requires covered operators of online platforms to apply protective default settings to users they know to be minors, including limits on algorithmic feeds, a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. notification curfew and no autoplay by default on addictive social media platforms, and establishes a device-level age-bracket signal that Internet-enabled device manufacturers must provide and operators must request. Announced by the Governor as the Children's Social Media Safety Act, the title of the bill as introduced. Enforced by the Attorney General.
NJ Kids Code
Codifies a New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code requiring covered online service providers to design services likely to be accessed by minors around minors' safety and wellbeing, including high-privacy defaults, limits on engagement-maximising design features, and data protection impact assessments. Enforced by the Attorney General with a private right of action for minors and their parents.
MA S.3164
Would create General Laws chapter 93M requiring covered operators of social media platforms to apply protective default settings to users they determine to be minors, including disabling addictive algorithmic feeds, overnight notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, and limiting precise geolocation sharing and account visibility. The Attorney General would set age-assurance regulations and hold exclusive enforcement authority.
Last updated September 6, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.