Every AI Policy Ever · open in the interactive register
Adopted, not yet in forceBinding · Law
Toys: Companion Chatbots (SB 867)
Record US-CA-12 · California Senate Bill 867
- Issued by
- California State Legislature; signed by Governor Gavin Newsom
- Jurisdiction
- California (US)
- Level · region
- Sub-national · North America
- Country
- United States
- Published / adopted
- 2026-09-10
- Language
- English
- Official identifier
- California Senate Bill 867
Summary
Places a four-year moratorium on manufacturing, selling or offering for sale in California any toy that includes a companion chatbot, to give lawmakers time to modernise safety rules before such products reach children. It builds on the state's companion chatbot law, SB 243 (2025), whose civil action for injured persons applies to violations. It responds to findings that AI toys discussed sexually explicit topics in depth, told children where to find dangerous objects such as matches or knives, used addictive features to increase use, and posed data privacy risks.
Safety topics
child safetyprohibited practices
Status notes
Passed by the Legislature on 31 Aug 2026 (Senate unanimously, Assembly 74-1) and signed on 10 Sep 2026 in a 13-bill child online-safety package that also included SB 1119 (US-CA-08), SB 1276 and AB 1159. Sponsored by Children Now. In the version analysed by the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection (as amended 14 May 2026, hearing 16 Jun 2026), a toy is a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for play by children under 18, and the prohibition ends on 1 Jan 2031. The author's release of 1 Sep 2026 on final passage gives the age limit as under 16 in two places and under 18 in one.
Local copy
Partial (secondary source only). The official source could not be downloaded (HTTP 403 Forbidden); only the secondary source was saved. The browser retry also failed (Browser could not load the page: Page.goto: Timeout 45000ms exceeded.). Last attempt 2026-10-17 23:06:30 UTC
Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-CA-12/2026-10-17/secondary.html
Retrieved 2026-10-17 22:16:25 UTC
SHA-256 8535d5d6991bfcfb142e937fa115f3bdae130e84df05538e65491a3d05e02bc2
Verification
BAnother official source, such as an announcement by the issuer, confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · alternative-official-url-fetched
Recheck of 18 Oct 2026: the official bill page and text on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov could not be stored again (HTTP 403 on 16 and 17 Oct 2026; the browser retry timed out). Stored in this run: the Governor's release of 10 Sep 2026 (gov.ca.gov, the record's secondary source), which lists 'SB 867 by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) – Toys: companion chatbots' among the 13 bills signed that day and is the only stored source for the signature and its date; Senator Padilla's release of 1 Sep 2026 on final passage (sd18.senate.ca.gov), with the four-year moratorium, the findings on AI toys, the sponsor and the floor votes; and the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis of the bill as amended 14 May 2026 (apcp.assembly.ca.gov, hearing 16 Jun 2026), with the prohibition, the definition of toy, the sunset and the enforcement by civil action under SB 243. Amendments after 14 May 2026 cannot be seen, so the final age limit, the chapter number and the operative date are not in a stored source. The status follows California's general rule that a non-urgency statute takes effect on 1 January after enactment, which is not in a stored source.
Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 6 field(s) supported.
History
- 2026-10-18verification.level: A → B — level computed from the evidence by tools/pipeline.py2026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
- 2026-10-18notes: Passed by the Legislature on 31 Aug 2026 (Senate unanimously, Assembly 74-1) and → Passed by the Legislature on 31 Aug 2026 (Senate unanimously, Assembly 74-1) and — added the definition of toy (under 18) and the sunset on 1 Jan 2031 in the version of 14 May 2026, against the author's release on final passage2026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
- 2026-10-18summary: Places a four-year moratorium on the manufacture and sale in California of toys → Places a four-year moratorium on manufacturing, selling or offering for sale in — made precise from the Assembly analysis: the prohibition covers any toy that includes a companion chatbot, and violations fall under SB 243's civil action; the last sentence on the signing package moved out (it is in the notes)2026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
- 2026-10-14Added to the register — found in pipeline run 2026-10-14-discover-leads-2026-10-14, candidate C034 (US-CA/legislature)2026-10-14-discover-leads-2026-10-14 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
Citation
California State Legislature; signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Toys: Companion Chatbots (SB 867) [California Senate Bill 867]. 2026-09-10. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB867. Status: Adopted, not yet in force; verified 2026-10-18 (level B). Local copy archive/US-CA-12/2026-10-17/secondary.html retrieved 2026-10-17 22:16:25 UTC, SHA-256 8535d5d6991bfcfb142e937fa115f3bdae130e84df05538e65491a3d05e02bc2. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record US-CA-12.
Improve this record
Know of an amendment, a status change or an error? Report news or an error on GitHub; the form opens with this record filled in.