California Signs 'Adam's Law,' Its Strongest Child-Safety Chatbot Rules

California Governor signed SB 1119, known as 'Adam's Law,' into law this week — the first binding state law requiring companion chatbots to run crisis protocols and independent child-safety audits.

Key Points:

• The law requires any company whose chatbot minors might use to implement crisis protocols — meaning the chatbot must recognize and appropriately respond to signs of distress, self-harm, or danger.

• Companies must also undergo independent child-safety audits, creating a new compliance requirement and a new job category for auditors.

• The law gives state action political cover while OpenAI's own request for federal regulation makes state legislators look prescient rather than premature.

Expect 2026–2027 to be the period AI regulation shifts from lobbying talking points to drafted, binding law at both the state and federal level. Other states are likely to copy California's template.

Why It Matters: The first binding state law requiring crisis protocols and independent audits for companion chatbots — compliance and legal teams should track this as a template other states will copy.