EveryAILaw.comDoes California Companion Chatbot Safeguards (SB 243) require Transparency & Disclosure?
California • enforcing
Yes — 1 provision
Requirements at a glance
This regulation imposes 4 specific requirements for Transparency & Disclosure across 1 provision:
- Artificiality notice — Where a reasonable person interacting with the companion chatbot would be misled into believing they are interacting with a human, issue a clear and conspicuous notification that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human (§ 22602(a))
- Minor disclosure — For a user the operator knows is a minor, disclose that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence (§ 22602(c)(1)). This is the original SB 243 clause; SB 1119 Section 1 omits subdivision (c), but the rewrite's operative timing is not established here.
- Three-hour break reminder — For known minors, provide by default a clear and conspicuous notification at least every three hours during continuing interactions, reminding the user to take a break and that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human (§ 22602(c)(2)). This is the original SB 243 clause; SB 1119 Section 1 omits subdivision (c), but the rewrite's operative timing is not established here.
- Suitability disclosure — Disclose on the application, browser, or any other access format that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors (§ 22604)
Companion Chatbot Disclosure
For an operator of a companion chatbot platform within § 22601(b) and (e), the artificiality-notice duty uses a reasonable-person test. Section 22601(b)(2) excludes specified customer-service, video-game, and voice-assistant interactions. The minor-notice and three-hour reminder rows below describe Section 22602(c)(1)-(2) as chaptered by SB 243 in 2025. Retained SB 1119 (Chapter 190, Statutes of 2026), Section 1, rewrites Section 22602 without subdivision (c). Its separately added Section 21812 becomes operative July 1, 2027 under subdivision (e). This record does not establish when the Section 22602 rewrite operates or treat the two regimes as equivalent. The existing status and date fields are unchanged; they do not resolve this amendment-timing question.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Artificiality notice | Where a reasonable person interacting with the companion chatbot would be misled into believing they are interacting with a human, issue a clear and conspicuous notification that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human (§ 22602(a)) |
| Minor disclosure | For a user the operator knows is a minor, disclose that the user is interacting with artificial intelligence (§ 22602(c)(1)). This is the original SB 243 clause; SB 1119 Section 1 omits subdivision (c), but the rewrite's operative timing is not established here. |
| Three-hour break reminder | For known minors, provide by default a clear and conspicuous notification at least every three hours during continuing interactions, reminding the user to take a break and that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human (§ 22602(c)(2)). This is the original SB 243 clause; SB 1119 Section 1 omits subdivision (c), but the rewrite's operative timing is not established here. |
| Suitability disclosure | Disclose on the application, browser, or any other access format that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors (§ 22604) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Private right of action | A person who suffers injury in fact may sue for injunctive relief, damages of the greater of actual damages or $1,000 per violation, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 22605) |
| Cumulative liability | The duties and remedies are cumulative to those imposed under other law and do not relieve an operator of any other obligation (§ 22606) |