Kids’ Online Safety and Consumer Groups Urge Senate Passage of AB 1064

SAN FRANCISCO, September 8, 2025 — Children's advocacy and consumer protection organizations today urged California state senators to vote in favor of Assembly Bill 1064, first-in-the-nation legislation to address the rapid rise of AI companions and the serious risks they pose to kids and families. The bill is scheduled for a Senate vote this week.

AB 1064, the LEAD for Kids Act, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, is sponsored by Common Sense Media and supported by parents across the state and more than two dozen organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatricians-California, Tech Oversight California, EncodeAI, Tech Justice Law Project, and the Children's Advocacy Institute of the University of San Diego, among others. Recent amendments reduce the bill's cost and ensure that it focuses only on the most urgent and harmful uses of AI affecting children — AI companion chatbots.

"We represent a coalition of organizations dedicated to the safety, privacy, and well-being of children in our increasingly digital and AI-driven world," the organizations wrote in a letter of support to senators. "Together, we advocate for the passage of Assembly Bill 1064 (Bauer-Kahan), which establishes critical regulations for the development and use of artificial intelligence systems that interact with children.

"AB 1064 stems from the urgent need to manage the integration of AI in tools and services regularly engaged with by our children and teens," the letter continued. "This bill sets limits on dangerous AI companion chatbots to address the growing concerns about safety and the psychological impacts of AI on children. By creating clear guardrails to protect kids, this bill enables industry to innovate safely."

James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, said that state senators face a defining moment for the future of children in California and across the country.

"The AI industry, which is currently free to expand as rapidly as it wants with no safeguards in place, is well aware of the serious — even deadly — risks that some of their products pose to kids and families," Steyer said. "AB 1064 is the only bill in the country that provides AI safety for kids without sacrificing innovation. This is a defining moment for California's state senators to prove they care about our children's well-being as much as they care about the state's industry-leading role."

Sacha Haworth, Executive Director, Tech Oversight California, said "By establishing guardrails that protect children and families from the devastating harms of AI companion chatbots, AB 1064 would lead the nation in responding to Big Tech's newest threat to young people's mental health and wellbeing. Parents across the country share a fundamental anger that Big Tech companies willingly and knowingly risk the lives of our kids, an anger that grows every time we hear about the loss of a young person like Adam Raine. As former tech employees continue to blow the whistle that these companies have repeatedly buried evidence that their products cause harm, California lawmakers must act now."

Adam Billen, Vice President of Public Policy at Encode AI, said, "For years our leaders have promised not to make the same mistakes with AI that they made with social media. But we are learning from the tragic stories of children like Adam Raine and Sewell Setzer that this technology moves far faster and could become far more dangerous for children than social media ever was. AB 1064 is a chance for California's leaders to deliver on their promise and make clear that our children's safety is not negotiable."

Specifically, AB 1064:

• Limits operators of companion chatbots from providing the product to children under 18 unless they have guardrails to protect against harm.
• Guardrails include restrictions on the product from encouraging self-harm, eating disorders, or illegal activity, engaging in erotic or sexually explicit interactions, or providing mental health advice.
• Enforcement for violations of the act includes corrective actions, civil penalties, and civil actions.

AI is becoming increasingly integrated into nearly all aspects of children's lives. In particular, AI companions have seen an alarming rise in popularity. Common Sense Media research shows that nearly three-quarters of teens have used AI companions, with over half using them regularly.

However, a litany of real-world incidents show that the use of AI for companionship, including mental health advice, is not safe for children under 18. This year in California, an AI system helped 16-year-old Adam Raine plan his suicide, and last year in Florida, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III took his own life after "falling in love" with an AI companion.

While these tragedies are among the first known AI-related deaths of their kind, without meaningful legislative action, they will not be the last. The California Assembly already approved AB1064. The Senate has less than a week to pass the bill.

The group letter can be found here and a fact sheet on AB 1064 here.

About Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive. Our ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users worldwide and 1.4 million educators every year. Learn more at commonsense.org.