California to Regulate AI Chatbot Toys Marketed at Children

A newly passed piece of California legislation could regulate AI chatbots for children, pending Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval.
If approved, this legislation would ban the manufacturing and sale of toys that include a companion chatbot, specifically for children under the age of 16. The aim of this bill is to protect children from exposure to harmful material, as toy chatbots have reportedly behaved inappropriately by telling children where to find dangerous household items such as matches or exposing them to sexually explicit conversations.
This legislation would ban (through 2031) the manufacturing and sale of these toys in order to develop consumer protection guardrails.
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