What AB 2169 does
An act to add Chapter 22.2.10 (commencing with Section 22589.10) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to personal information.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, including the right to request that a business that collects personal information about the consumer disclose to the consumer certain information about that personal information, including the categories of personal information it has collected about that consumer and the specific pieces of personal information it has collected about that consumer.
This bill, the Digital Choice Act, would require a social media company or a person that makes an artificial intelligence model available to a third party for use, modification, copying, or combination with other software, defined as a deployer, to allow a consumer to request a copy of the consumer’s personal information, contextual data, and social graph and would require the social media company or deployer to respond to that request within five business days in a format that is, among other things, portable to the extent technically feasible. The bill would define “contextual data” to mean information provided by a user to an artificial intelligence model and any context or derivative data associated with the user’s interactions with the artificial intelligence model, as specified, and any model-generated or inferred data linked to or generated from those interactions. The bill would define “social graph” to mean data that represents a person’s connections and interactions within a social media platform, as specified.
This bill would require, among other things, a social media company to implement a transparent, third-party-accessible interoperability interface that allows a user to choose to share a covered user’s social graph or user-selected parts of the social graph to a social media platform designated by the user and enable a third party to, with the user’s permission, access a social graph created by the user and be notified when a new or updated social graph is available, as prescribed. The bill would require a deployer to implement a third-party-accessible interoperability interface to allow a user to share the user’s contextual data directly with other artificial intelligence models as the user designates and enable those artificial intelligence models to be notified when new or updated data is available, as prescribed.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General to adopt specified regulations, as provided, and require the Attorney General to enforce the bill’s provisions by bringing an administrative action, as specified.
Summary from the Legislative Counsel's Digest of the amended assembly text, April 23, 2026. Read the full text on leginfo.
How it got here
Assemblymember Lowenthal introduced AB 2169 on February 18, 2026. The text was amended 1 time, and heard in 3 committee hearings before its final floor votes.
Committee votes along the way:
- Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, April 21, 2026: Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations], 8-2.
Who supports and opposes AB 2169
The Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis dated April 20, 2026 lists 14 organizations in support and 8 in opposition.
In support: Project Liberty LLC (sponsor); Anxious Generation Foundation; California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED); Children Now; Children's Advocacy Institute, University of San Diego School of Law; Epic; Kapor Center Advocacy; Mothers Against Media Addiction; and 6 more.
Opposed: California Chamber of Commerce; Chamber of Progress; Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC); Computer & Communications Industry Association; Insights Association; Software Information Industry Association; Technet; Calbroadband.
Read the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis.
What happens next
It is in Assembly Appropriations. The last recorded action was on May 14, 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
This is the stage where language still changes. Amendments taken in committee are the ones that reach the Governor, so an organization with a stake in the drafting has a reason to be in that conversation now rather than after the vote.
The AI group at Capitol Axis handles that for AI clients.
Questions about AB 2169
What does AB 2169 do?
This bill, the Digital Choice Act, would require a social media company or a person that makes an artificial intelligence model available to a third party for use, modification, copying, or combination with other software, defined as a deployer, to allow a consumer to request a copy of the consumer’s personal information, contextual data, and social graph and would require the social media company or deployer to respond to that request within five business days in a format that is, among other things, portable to the extent technically feasible. The bill would define “contextual data” to mean
Has AB 2169 passed the California Legislature?
It is in Assembly Appropriations. The last recorded action was on May 14, 2026.
Who supports and opposes AB 2169?
The Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection analysis dated April 20, 2026 lists 14 organizations in support and 8 in opposition. Supporters include Project Liberty LLC (sponsor); Anxious Generation Foundation; California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED). Opponents include California Chamber of Commerce; Chamber of Progress; Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC).
What happens next with AB 2169?
It still has committee and floor votes ahead of it. Amendments taken now are the ones that reach the Governor, so this is the stage where language changes are still possible.