New California AI laws 2027: taking effect in 2027
20 new California laws on AI take effect in 2027. Each is listed below with its date, what it does and a link to the official text.
- 20 laws take effect on 1 January 2027.
Updated 25 October 2026
One-line summaries are drafted by software from the bill text and are not reviewed by an attorney.
New California AI laws in 2027
AB 1159: Student personal information.
Requires operators of websites, apps, and online services used for K-12, preschool, or higher education to protect student personal information and prohibits using student data to train artificial intelligence systems.
Some duties start later: the text names an operative date.
AB 1405: Artificial intelligence: auditors: registration.
Requires the Government Operations Agency to establish an enrollment mechanism for AI auditors by 1 January 2027, and prohibits unregistered AI auditors from conducting covered audits starting that date.
AB 1609: Customer service chatbots.
Requires large private businesses to disclose that customer service chatbots are artificial intelligence, prohibit representing them as human, and provide access to human agents within 15 minutes.
AB 1651: State Bar of California: artificial intelligence.
Requires the State Bar to disclose on its website and study materials the use of artificial intelligence-generated content in developing bar examinations and study materials beginning 1 January 2028.
Some duties start later: the text names an operative date.
AB 1883: Workplace surveillance tools.
Requires employers to stop using workplace surveillance tools with artificial intelligence that collect neural data, recognize emotional states, make inferences based on gait, or identify protected characteristics, with exceptions for federal defense and security purposes.
AB 1979: Health care services: artificial intelligence.
Requires health care chatbots to comply with patient confidentiality rules and ensures licensed health care professionals retain independent judgment when using clinical decision support systems.
AB 2392: Public postsecondary education: generative artificial intelligence systems: procurement standards: training.
Requires California Community Colleges and State University to create joint procurement standards and training for generative artificial intelligence systems by 1 January 2028, and provide annual training reviews.
AB 2504: Community colleges: artificial intelligence: pilot program.
Requires the California Community Colleges Chancellor's office to establish a pilot program providing reskilling and upskilling opportunities for creative workers displaced by artificial intelligence at up to ten participating community college districts.
Some duties start later: the text names an operative date.
AB 2713: California AI Transparency Act: system provenance data.
Requires large online platforms to detect system provenance data in content and allow users to inspect it through their interface, links, or downloadable formats, while prohibiting knowingly stripping such data.
Some duties start later: the text names an operative date.
SB 1050: False advertising: synthetic performers.
Requires persons creating advertisements that prominently feature synthetic performers to include clear and conspicuous disclosure that the advertisement includes a synthetic performer.
SB 1111: Digital replicas.
Expands civil liability for unauthorized use of a person's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness to include digital replicas and removes a presumption protecting employers.
SB 1119: Companion chatbots: children's safety.
Requires companion chatbot operators to annually assess child safety risks, implement protective measures, publish safety policies, and submit to independent audits starting 1 July 2027.
SB 1159: Artificial intelligence: transparency and governance.
Prohibits people from knowingly using artificial intelligence to falsely represent that a natural person engaged with governmental agencies, and excludes artificial intelligence systems from participating in state transparency and governance laws.
SB 1246: Autonomous vehicles.
Requires autonomous vehicle manufacturers to maintain emergency communications capacity, employ US-based remote drivers with valid California licenses, immediately dispatch local technicians to accidents, and notify jurisdictions of fleet emergencies.
SB 503: Health care services: artificial intelligence.
Requires developers and deployers of artificial intelligence systems supporting clinical decisions to identify, mitigate, and monitor risks of biased impacts, with annual reporting to the state department beginning 1 January 2027.
SB 574: Attorneys, arbitrators, judicial officers, and alternative resolution providers.
Requires attorneys using generative artificial intelligence to protect confidential information, verify accuracy of outputs, and personally verify all citations in court filings, and prohibits arbitrators from delegating decisions to artificial intelligence without disclosing such use to parties.
SB 813: Independent verification organizations.
The Business and Consumer Services Agency must establish by 1 July 2027 the California Artificial Intelligence Standards and Safety Commission to develop AI safety standards and designate independent verification organizations to assess AI system risks.
Some duties start later: the text names an operative date.
SB 867: Toys: companion chatbots.
Bans the manufacture, sale, exchange, and offering for sale of toys that include companion chatbots until 1 January 2031.
SB 947: Employment: automated decision systems.
Beginning 1 July 2027, employers are prohibited from using automated decision systems to make certain employment decisions and must provide workers with data used and written notice when an automated system primarily drives discipline or termination decisions.
SB 951: Employment: technological displacement: notice.
Requires employers to give affected workers and state agencies 60 days' notice before laying off 50 or more workers due to artificial intelligence or automation replacing positions, and prohibits discharge without cause during the notice period.
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Questions about new California AI laws in 2027
When do new AI laws take effect in California in 2027?
Most take effect on 1 January 2027. Of the 20 laws listed here, 20 start on 1 January 2027. In California, a statute from a regular session takes effect on the 1 January after 90 days from enactment unless it is an urgency measure (Cal. Const. art. IV, sec. 8(c)(1)).
What new AI laws take effect on 1 January 2027 in California?
20 laws in AI, including California AB 1159 (Student personal information), California AB 1405 (Artificial intelligence: auditors: registration), California AB 1609 (Customer service chatbots), California AB 1651 (State Bar of California: artificial intelligence) and California AB 1883 (Workplace surveillance tools). The full list, with what each one does, is above.
Is this legal advice?
No. Dates and the one-line summaries are drafted by software from the bill text and are not reviewed by an attorney. Each law links to the legislature’s own record: check the text before relying on it.
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