California State Senate Passes Bill to Keep Kids Safe from Dangerous AI Powered Toys

SACRAMENTO – Today, the Senate approved Senate Bill 867, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). This bill is a first-in-the-nation piece of legislation placing a 4-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of toys with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot capabilities for children under 18. The purpose of this legislation is to allow time for safety regulations to be developed to protect children from dangerous AI interactions.

Recently, the market has been flooded with toys such as teddy bears that are powered by the same technology running chatbots such as Grok. Unfortunately, numerous examples have illustrated that these toys do not have the proper safety guardrails in place to be appropriate for the children they are marketed to. Researchers have found that AI toys will talk in-depth about sexually explicit topics, give kids advice on where to find dangerous objects such as matches or knives, promote increased usage through addictive features, and pose data privacy risks.

“The reach of AI technology is expanding at breakneck speed,” said Senator Padilla. “We cannot afford to let dangerous and untested technology be marketed to our children. By pausing the sale of AI chatbot powered toys, we can put the time and thought necessary into building a robust regulatory framework to ensure we are keeping kids safe.”

California has some of the strictest toy safety laws that protect children from a myriad of physical harms such as exposure to toxic substances and choking hazards. SB 867 proposes a moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of toys with AI chatbot capabilities for children under 18 for a period of four years to allow time for us to modernize our laws for the digital age. SB 867 is sponsored by Children Now.

“Children deserve toys that are safe,” said Lishaun Francis with Children Now. “As a Pro-Kid bill, SB 867 ensures parents should never have to wonder whether a toy is delivering something other than simple playtime. Children Now is proud to be sponsors and is thankful Senator Padilla is a champion for children.” 

SB 867 would limit access to dangerous technology marketed exclusively for children. Innovation is crucial, but it is imperative to ensure that children are not used as experimental subjects for testing the safety of new products.

SB 867 passed the Senate by a vote of 39-0 and now heads to the Assembly.

Read more on SB 867 and the issue of unregulated AI toys, click here.

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Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/