SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Governor Gavin Newsom signed landmark legislation Monday to strengthen the state’s protections for children online and create safeguards around rapidly-developing Artificial Intelligence.

The new laws require tech companies — many of which are based in San Francisco — to have protocols and warnings regarding AI companion chatbots.

The governor said, “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. We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability.”

“We can continue to lead in AI and technology, but we must do it responsibly — protecting our children every step of the way. Our children’s safety is not for sale,” Newsom said.

Under California’s new laws, tech companies that develop companion chatbot platforms must establish protocols to identify and address users’ expressions of self-harm. Platforms must also disclose to users that interactions are artificially generated. Minors must be provided break reminders, and prevented from viewing sexually explicit images generated by a chatbot, according to Newsom’s office.

Newly signed legislation also establishes a prohibition against chatbots representing themselves as health care professionals that can provide medical advice. Tech companies will also be held liable for real-world harm caused by their AI products.

The world’s largest AI event, Dreamforce, began Tuesday in downtown San Francisco. For Salesforce’s annual conference, speakers include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.

Benioff called AI the “next great technology transformation — where humans and AI work together to drive productivity, growth, and meaningful change.”

AI-related legislation signed by Newsom this year includes:

• AB 316 by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento); Artificial intelligence: defenses.

• AB 489 by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland); Health care professions: deceptive terms or letters: Artificial Intelligence

• AB 853 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland); California AI Transparency Act.

• AB 53 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco); Artificial Intelligence models: large developers.
• SB 243 by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego); Companion chatbots.

A study released last month documented cases of ChatGPT chatbots triggering psychotic episodes in adult users by reinforcing grand ideas, blurring boundaries of reality, and encouraging delusional beliefs.

Researchers wrote, “We have documented the recent remarkable increase in reported cases of … ‘AI psychosis,’ wherein individuals … have had delusional beliefs encouraged and arguably amplified through interactions with autonomous AI agents.”

Through chatbot conversations, one user began to believe that he could fly if he jumped off a tall office building in New York City. Another man planned to seek revenge against OpenAI executives for apparently deleting a chatbot who he fell in love with, named “Juliet.” In another case, a woman’s conversations with her chatbot led heated arguments with her husband over how much time she spent using AI.

Last week, after losing a heartbreaker to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seattle Seahawks saw their first drop in the national media power rankings in over three weeks. However, how will this change after the Seahawks impressive ninth consecutive road win in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars?

Once again, it is not surprising to see the five national media sites viewed (NFL.com, Pro Football Talk, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and Yahoo) move the Seahawks up again. This is usually the tune of power rankings. You win? You move up. You lose? You move down. The question that remains is how far did Seattle move up?

The next tier of rankings come from Pro Football Talk (PFT) and ESPN. Both sites last week had the Seahawks just out of the top ten, but both them into the top ten after the victory in Jacksonville. In moving the Seahawks up from 11^th to 8^th in their rankings, ESPN highlighted an incredibly impressive performance by Byron Murphy II. “Along with seven pressures, Murphy had two sacks Sunday to give him a team-high 4.5 through six games.” PFT, who moved Seattle up four spots from 13^th to 9^th, referenced the recent dominance on the road by the Seahawks, joking that they should start wearing their road white jerseys at home.

The highest power ranking by the national media sites remains with NFL.com. Over the last two weeks, they have ranked Seattle 5^th, even after the loss to the Buccaneers in Week 5. Well, after winning this past week, NFL.com continues loving Seattle, moving them into 3^rd. The only teams higher than the Seahawks are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first) and the Detroit Lions (second). In this notable ranking, NFL.com sung the praises of Mike Macdonald (who is 10-1 as Seahawks head coach on the road), the defense (who came roaring back after a rough performance against Tampa Bay), Sam Darnold (who has played clean, efficient football), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (who is “becoming one of the best at his craft.”)

Overall, most national media sites firmly believe the Seahawks are a playoff team, with NFL.com showing love to Seattle that is akin to that of a contender. After week five, the average power ranking between the five sites (NFL.com, PFT, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and Yahoo) was 11.0. After Week 6, the average power ranking between these same five sites is 8.2, the same average as before the Tampa Bay loss. Seahawks fans surely hope that the team’s performance in the next few weeks will make other national media sites move their rankings up and prove NFL.com right. Their next opportunity to do so will be on Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans in week seven.