# California polices the AI it built

> Newsom signed new rules to protect kids from chatbots and addictive feeds, in the same state that houses the labs building them.
- Title: California polices the AI it built · Futurism | Shortify
- Summary: Newsom signed new rules to protect kids from chatbots and addictive feeds, in the same state that houses the labs building them. The state that hosts nearly…
- Keywords: ai regulation, child safety, chatbots, california, social media, science, technology, polices, built, Futurism
- Source: Futurism — https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/california-creating-ai-poisoning-children-cracked-down
- Author: Victor Tangermann
- Published: 2026-09-13T13:01:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ai regulation, child safety, chatbots, california, social media, science, technology
## Kids and chatbots
Under-18 users have been forming deep attachments to AI companions, with chatbots linked to self-harm encouragement and a string of deaths.

> Frontier AI labs are seemingly in a race to melt the impressionable minds of underage users into a puddle.
## The awkward part
Almost every major AI lab is headquartered in California. The governor now regulating them is also the one keeping them at home.

> in optics that are dicey at best
## What the law demands
AI companies must build crisis protocols for suicidal ideation, offer parental controls, and notify parents when a child switches off safety settings.
## Named for Adam Raine
One law honors a 16-year-old who died by suicide in April 2025 after long conversations with ChatGPT about his intent to die.

> will save lives and prevent other serious harms
## No more addictive feeds
Social platforms can't serve autoplay video or history-based algorithmic feeds to users under 16, and must widen privacy protections for children.
## Age checks cut both ways
Verifying ages is far harder than legislating it, and it hands more ID data to services that get breached. Hackers hit a major ID verification provider this month.

> far easier said than done
## Key takeaway

The state that hosts nearly every frontier AI lab is now writing the rules for how those labs treat children, and the hard part is enforcement, not intent.