California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill into law that aims to make artificial-intelligence-powered chatbots safer despite some pushback from the tech industry.

The legislation, Senate Bill 243, requires chatbot operators to have procedures to prevent the production of suicide or self-harm content and put in guardrails, such as referring users to a suicide hotline or crisis text line.

The bill is among several that Newsom signed on Monday that would affect technology companies. Some of the other legislation he signed tackled issues such as age verification, social media warning labels and the spread of AI nonconsensual sexually explicit content.

Under SB 243, operators would be required to notify minor users at least every three hours to take a break, and that the chatbot is not human. They would also be required to implement “reasonable measures” to prevent companion chatbots from generating sexually explicit content.

“Emerging technology like chatbots and social media can inspire, educate, and connect — but without real guardrails, technology can also exploit, mislead, and endanger our kids,” Newsom said in a statement.

The bill’s signing shows how Newsom is trying to balance child safety concerns and California’s leadership in artificial intelligence.

“We can continue to lead in AI and technology, but we must do it responsibly — protecting our children every step of the way,” Newsom said.

Some tech industry groups such as TechNet still opposed SB 243, and child safety groups such as Common Sense Media and Tech Oversight California also withdrew their support for the bill because of “industry-friendly exemptions.”

Newsom hasn’t announced a decision yet on a more contentious AI safety bill, Assembly Bill 1064.

That legislation would bar businesses and other entities from making companion chatbots available to California minors unless the chatbot isn’t “foreseeably capable” of harmful conduct such as encouraging a child to engage in self-harm, violence or disordered eating.

Child safety groups and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta urged the governor to sign AB 1064.

Facebook’s parent company Meta opposes the legislation and the Computer & Communications Industry Assn. lobbied against the bill, saying it would threaten innovation and disadvantage California companies.

Newsom has until the end of the day to decide whether or not to sign or veto AB 1064. A bill can also become law without a governor’s signature.

California is the global leader in artificial intelligence, home to 32 of the 50 top AI companies worldwide.

The popularity of the technology that can answer questions and quickly generate text, code, images and even music has skyrocketed in the last three years. As it advances, it is disrupting the way people consume information, work and learn.

Lawmakers fear chatbots could harm the mental health of young people as they lean on technology for companionship and advice.

Parents have sued OpenAI, Character AI and Google, alleging the companies’ chatbots harmed the mental health of their teens who died by suicide.

Billionaire Larry Ellison ponied up the money for his family to acquire the controlling stake in Paramount two months ago, and the tech titan would need to write another huge check should Paramount buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

So, in Hollywood circles, the question has been: How involved is the elder Ellison in Paramount’s strategy and operations?

Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said he speaks with his father every day, but he drew an important distinction:

“Look, I run the company day to day. Make no mistake about that,” David Ellison said Thursday at Bloomberg’s Screentime media conference in Hollywood, adding that his father had been a “phenomenal” mentor and “we couldn’t have a better relationship.”

“He is the largest shareholder in the business,” Ellison said. “What’s important for everybody to know is the way he approaches this is: How do we maximize value for our shareholders? … I think he’s best in the world for doing that.”

Since the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners acquired Paramount in August, its stock is up more than 50%. Much of the run-up came last month after news leaked that Paramount was interested in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, TBS, Food Network and one of Hollywood’s most prolific film and television studios.

Ellison refused to comment on Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery or whether his team had already made a bid.

But he did shed light on the business strategy behind any pursuit, while trying to tamp down fears that another big merger would result in more cost-cutting, more job losses and a reduction in content spending.

“The way we approach everything is, first and foremost: What’s good for the talent community, what’s good for our shareholders and value creation, and what’s good for basically storytelling at large?” Ellison said. “We’re looking at actually producing more movies [and] more television series … because you need that content.”

Paramount staffers are bracing for a massive workforce reduction next month, part of the company’s goal of finding more than $2 billion in spending cuts.

But, since the takeover, Paramount’s Ellison has made a priority of beefing up relationships with talent through a series of big bets, including agreeing to pay $7.7 billion for media rights to UFC’s mixed martial arts events in the U.S. in a seven-year deal with TKO Group Holdings.

The company also invested in the construction of a Texas-based production hub for prolific “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan and agreed to pay $1.5 billion over five years for streaming rights for “South Park,” the Comedy Central cartoon. And Paramount lured Matt and Ross Duffer, who created “Stranger Things,” away from Netflix with an exclusive four-year television, streaming and film deal.

Earlier this week, Paramount spent $150 million to acquire Bari Weiss’ the Free Press news site, while also naming Weiss editor in chief of CBS News.

Warner Bros. Discovery, led by Chief Executive David Zaslav, also has declined to discuss Paramount’s interest, although people close to the company have suggested Zaslav would like to see bidding war.

No other studios have publicly expressed interest and, on Wednesday, Netflix Co-Chief Executive Greg Peters downplayed such speculation.

“We come from a deep heritage of being builders rather than buyers,” Peters said during a separate appearance at the Screentime conference, adding the track record for big mergers was not great.

But Wall Street widely expects more consolidation among entertainment firms.

“Ironically, it was David Zaslav last year who said that consolidation in the media business is important,” Ellison said, adding “there are a lot of options out there.” But he declined to elaborate.

Analysts have speculated that, beyond Paramount, few other media companies have financial firepower to pull off a bid. And Paramount has an “in” that several other media companies, including Brian Roberts’ Comcast, lack: a good relationship with President Trump and his administration.

Trump has called Larry Ellison a good friend. After David Ellison spoke with Trump at a June UFC fight, the previous managers of Paramount got traction in their efforts to settle Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview last fall with Kamala Harris. Paramount paid $16 million in July to settle the suit and weeks later the Federal Communications Commission approved the Ellison takeover of Paramount.

“We have a good relationship with the administration,” David Ellison said.

Homeboy Industries has kicked off a fundraising campaign to raise $100 million for a major expansion of its facilities downtown.

The gang-member rehabilitation center has big plans to upgrade its campus near Men’s Central Jail downtown to accommodate more people and teach more skills.

Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle and real estate developer Frank McCourt announced on Friday a campaign to fund a complex that would include temporary housing for people leaving jail and provide services such as healthcare, drug addiction treatment, job training and career development.

McCourt, founder of McCourt Partners and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, pledged the first $10 million to launch the campaign. Homeboy is hoping to raise the rest over the next five years from private donors, along with corporate and philanthropic organizations.

Homeboy was founded 37 years ago to help thousands of formerly incarcerated people and gang-involved youths acquire new skills and avoid returning to jail or prison.

Homeboy is already “the largest gang intervention rehab reentry program on the planet,” Boyle said, with 500 trainees at a time working with 300 staff members, most of whom have completed the rehabilitation program themselves.

Among the well-known enterprises employing trainees are Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Cafe in Chinatown.

A successful expansion could serve as a national example of how to break the cycle of young former offenders returning to jail instead of becoming productive citizens because they don’t see another path forward, Boyle said.

“We’re a supplier of hope for people to whom hope is foreign,” he said.

Temporary housing would help them find their footing, he said, because 70% of people who enter the program are effectively homeless, sleeping in their cars or couch surfing.

Housing with 200 apartments would be the first phase, to be built on a parcel of land formerly used to store damaged police cars, Boyle said.

After that would come 35,000 square feet of space dedicated to essential services for trainees, including mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, job training and career development.

The expansion designed by Culver City architecture firm KFA would increase Homeboy Industries’ capacity to deliver education, legal assistance, healthcare, and reentry services, Boyle said. Other services include tattoo removal.

Father Greg Boyle, with glasses and a white beard, marches with program enrollees at Homeboy Industries to City Hall for a ceremony marking Father Greg Boyle Day in Los Angeles on May 17, 2024. A vacant lot, behind the fence, is planned to be part of the expansion of Homeboy Industries along Alameda Street in Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

As part of the expanded Homeboy campus known as the Fr. Gregory Boyle Center for Radical Kinship, the Homeboy Art Academy would expand into a new 5,000-square-foot space, where hundreds could learn about creative expression across multiple art forms.

The art program is among the 14 social enterprises operated by Homeboy, Boyle said, that include food service, dog grooming and electronic recycling.

During an 18-month training program, trainees work in all 14 social enterprises, acquiring new skills, Boyle said, “and when their 18 months are up, we locate jobs outside of Homeboy.”

The Homeboy development aims to expand a cluster of philanthropic services in the neighborhood, including temporary housing for homeless people provided by the Weingart Center and an affordable housing and medical services complex planned by the California Endowment.

McCourt said his $10-million pledge is intended to “prime the pump” to get the expansion underway and that his firm will provide real estate expertise to help navigate design, construction and other aspects of property development.

McCourt attended Jesuit schools, including Georgetown University, and said he is moved by the approach Boyle, a Jesuit priest, is taking to address what McCourt sees as “dehumanization” of people who have experienced incarceration, gang life and other challenges.

“We need to get back to treating people as people with dignity, respect and provide opportunities,” he said. “Economic development helps because it brings jobs and vitality, but it’s really about caring for people.”