A California bill moving through the Legislature would prohibit companies from advertising artificial intelligence chatbots as therapy, and would set new rules for how licensed providers use AI in mental health care.
Senate Bill 903, authored by Senator Steve Padilla of San Diego, passed the Senate unanimously in May and cleared two Assembly policy committees before reaching the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it was placed on the suspense file this month. It arrives as chatbot use has expanded rapidly and as wrongful death lawsuits, several in California federal courts, allege that AI chatbot makers contributed to users' suicides.
