Inside the Lobbying Frenzy Over California's AI Companion Bills

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers this month passed dueling measures aimed at improving the safety of artificial intelligence companions, setting up a major showdown over what may become the nation’s most significant protections as fears over the products’ risks rise.

Debate over the bills, AB1064 and SB243, sparked a lobbying blitz in Sacramento in recent months as groups jockeyed to shape what some hope produces model legislation in the United States, particularly given California’s outsize role in setting rules for Silicon Valley.

That battle is now shifting to the governor’s mansion, where California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) faces yet another high-profile test over AI regulation after siding with tech companies last year in vetoing the state’s most sweeping AI safety bill to date, SB1047.

Children’s safety advocates and critics of the tech giants have largely rallied around AB1064, the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act. The bill would ban companies from offering AI companions to children unless they are “not foreseeably capable” of engaging in potentially harmful conduct, such as encouraging self-harm or engaging in sexual exchanges.