California Companion Chatbot Safeguards (SB 243) — Transparency & Disclosure

Q: Does California Companion Chatbot Safeguards (SB 243) require Transparency & Disclosure?

Yes. California Companion Chatbot Safeguards (SB 243) addresses Transparency & Disclosure through 1 provision.

Does 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))
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))
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

Obligation:: Transparency

enforcing

Effective:: Jan 1, 2026

Risk tier:: limited-risk

Scope:: Operators — persons who make a companion chatbot platform available to a user in California, where a companion chatbot is an AI system with a natural language interface giving adaptive, human-like responses capable of meeting a user's social needs and sustaining a relationship across interactions; customer-service and operational bots, video-game bots confined to game topics, and voice-assistant speaker devices are excluded (§ 22601(b))

high-impact

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 three-hour break reminder for known minors also constrains session flow.

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))
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))
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)

Sources: SB 243 Chaptered Text (Ch. 677, 2025)

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