California Expands Age Checks to Social Media and AI Chatbots

California has passed a package of child-safety laws expanding age-assurance requirements for social media platforms and AI services.

One of the new measures, SB 1119, requires companies offering companion chatbots to conduct independent child-safety audits and regular risk assessments. The law is named Adam’s Law after Adam Raine, whose parents have alleged in a lawsuit that ChatGPT contributed to his death. OpenAI has said it supports the legislation.

Another measure, AB 1709, amends California’s Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. It prohibits platforms from serving addictive features to users under 16 and requires them to verify a user’s age before providing access to those features. Knowing violations can result in civil penalties of up to $50,000 per affected minor, while negligent violations can result in penalties of up to $25,000.

The legislation also builds on California’s Digital Age Assurance Act. AB 1856 clarifies that operating systems and app stores should provide developers with non-personally identifiable age-bracket signals covering users under 13, ages 13 to 15, ages 16 to 17, and those 18 or older. The amendment also addresses concerns about applying the original requirements to open-source operating systems such as Linux.

The new rules move California toward requiring online services to establish a user’s age before allowing access to certain features. Their approach increasingly relies on age signals supplied at the device or operating-system level rather than requiring every service to establish a user’s exact age independently.