California SB 243

State: California

The state whose legislature passed the law.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005212541/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Law: Senate Bill No. 243, Chapter 677

The act's name, or its bill and chapter, as the state's own text gives it.

Senate Bill No. 243 CHAPTER 677

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005212541/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Subject: companion chatbots

A short label, in the text's own words, for what the law regulates.

CHAPTER 22.6. Companion Chatbots

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005212541/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Signed: October 13, 2025

The date the governor signed, as the official record writes it. Dates are left in the form the source uses.

Approved by Governor October 13, 2025

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005212541/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Takes effect: effective January 1, 2026

When the law says its duties begin, in its own words. Some laws start in stages, and the quote shows which duty the date belongs to. Blank if the text gives no date and no official page states one.

(SB 243) Effective January 1, 2026

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20260518223134/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=22605.. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Applies to: a person who makes a companion chatbot platform available to a user in the state

Who has duties, in the law's own words. A law with several parts shows the part named in its quote.

“Operator” means a person who makes a companion chatbot platform available to a user in the state

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005212541/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Enforced by: a person who suffers injury in fact

Who enforces it, as stated. Where the text only makes a violation part of another act, that act is shown. Blank if the text doesn't say.

A person who suffers injury in fact as a result of a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20260518223134/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=22605.. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Maximum penalty: Not stated

The highest civil penalty stated, in the law's words. Blank if the text names no amount. Damages in a private suit and penalties set by another act don't count.

No source we could use stated this. A blank never means no.

Private right of action: Yes

Yes or no only where the text says so plainly. Blank otherwise, including where a law just points to a consumer protection act.

A person who suffers injury in fact as a result of a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20260518223134/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=22605.. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.

Latest change: Senate Bill No. 1119, Chapter 190, amend section 22602

The newest amendment, delay, repeal or replacement found in an official source. Blank with the places we looked if none was found, which doesn't prove there is none.

Senate Bill No. 1119 CHAPTER 190 An act to amend Section 22602 of, and to add Chapter 11.6 (commencing with Section 21810) to Division 8 of, the Business and Professions Code

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20261005231223/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1119. Read 2026-11-01. Checked by a second reader.