What AB 1064 does
An act to add Chapter 25.1 (commencing with Section 22757.20) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to artificial intelligence.
The California AI Transparency Act requires a person that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative artificial intelligence system that has over 1,000,000 monthly visitors or users and is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state to make available an AI detection tool at no cost to the user that, among other things, allows a user to assess whether image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, was created or altered by the covered provider’s generative artificial intelligence system. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 prohibits certain businesses from selling or sharing the personal information of consumers if the business has actual knowledge that the consumer is less than 16 years of age, unless the consumer, if the consumer is at least 13 years of age and less than 16 years of age, or the consumer’s parent or guardian, if the consumer is less than 13 years of age, has affirmatively authorized the sale or sharing of the consumer’s personal information.
This bill, the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act, would, among other things related to the use of certain artificial intelligence systems by children, prohibit a person, partnership, corporation, business entity, or state or local government agency that makes a companion chatbot available to users from making a companion chatbot available to a child unless the companion chatbot is not foreseeably capable of doing certain things that could harm a child, including encouraging the child to engage in self-harm, suicidal ideation, violence, consumption of drugs or alcohol, or disordered eating.
The act would authorize the Attorney General to recover a certain civil penalty for a violation of the bill, as prescribed. The act would authorize a child who suffers actual harm as a result of a violation of the bill, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of that child, to bring a civil action to recover, among other relief, actual damages.
This bill would provide that its provisions are severable.
Summary from the Legislative Counsel's Digest of the enrolled text, September 15, 2025. Read the full text on leginfo.
How it got here
Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan introduced AB 1064 on February 20, 2025, with coauthors Assembly Member Pellerin. The text was amended 6 times, 3 in the Assembly and 3 in the Senate, and heard in 7 committee hearings before its final floor votes.
- Assembly Floor, June 2, 2025: 59 ayes, 12 noes.
- Senate Floor, September 10, 2025: 31 ayes, 6 noes.
- Assembly Floor, September 11, 2025: 60 ayes, 8 noes.
Committee votes along the way:
- Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, April 22, 2025: Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary], 10-3.
- Assembly Judiciary, April 29, 2025: Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations], 9-3.
- Assembly Appropriations, May 23, 2025: Do pass as amended., 11-3.
- Senate Judiciary, July 15, 2025: Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations], 11-1.
- Senate Appropriations, August 18, 2025: Placed on suspense file, 7-0.
- Senate Appropriations, August 29, 2025: Do pass as amended, 5-2.
Who supports and opposes AB 1064
The Senate Floor Analyses analysis dated September 9, 2025 lists 23 organizations in support and 6 in opposition. When Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection first listed positions on April 18, 2025, the count was 4 in support and 7 opposed. By the Senate Floor Analyses analysis of September 9, 2025 it was 23 to 6.
In support: AI for Education; American Academy of Pediatrics, California; California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; California Initiative for Technology & Democracy; Center for Digital Democracy; Children's Advocacy Institute; Common Sense Media; Emmy's Champions; and 15 more.
Opposed: CalBroadband; California Chamber of Commerce; Chamber of Progress; Civil Justice Association of California; Computer & Communications Industry Association; Technet.
Read the Senate Floor Analyses analysis.
What happens next
The Governor vetoed it, with the last recorded action on January 22, 2026.
The Governor can sign the bill, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. Until the decision, sign and veto request letters are the remaining channel, and the Department of Finance's enrolled bill report carries weight on anything with a fiscal effect. If signed, most provisions take effect January 1, and implementation moves to the agencies named in the bill.
What it means for AI organizations
A vetoed bill usually returns. The veto message is the clearest statement of what a successor would have to change, and the interval before it is reintroduced is when that language gets negotiated.
The AI group at Capitol Axis handles that for AI clients.
Questions about AB 1064
What does AB 1064 do?
This bill, the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act, would, among other things related to the use of certain artificial intelligence systems by children, prohibit a person, partnership, corporation, business entity, or state or local government agency that makes a companion chatbot available to users from making a companion chatbot available to a child unless the companion chatbot is not foreseeably capable of doing certain things that could harm a child, including encouraging the child to engage in self-harm, suicidal ideation, violence, consumption of drugs or alcohol, or disor
Has AB 1064 passed the California Legislature?
The Governor vetoed it, with the last recorded action on January 22, 2026.
Who supports and opposes AB 1064?
The Senate Floor Analyses analysis dated September 9, 2025 lists 23 organizations in support and 6 in opposition. Supporters include AI for Education; American Academy of Pediatrics, California; California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Opponents include CalBroadband; California Chamber of Commerce; Chamber of Progress.
What happens next with AB 1064?
A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses, which is rare. The usual path is a successor bill in the next session, and the veto message is the clearest guide to what that bill would have to change.