California has taken a major step forward in tech accountability and consumer protection by enacting a suite of innovative laws aimed at regulating artificial intelligence, data privacy, and digital safety. Just in the last few days, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed several notable bills into law that address some of the most pressing challenges posed by emerging technologies.

“This is exactly why states need the freedom to step in and protect people where Congress has repeatedly failed,” said Ben Winters, Director of AI and Privacy at Consumer Federation of America. “These laws are examples of straightforward bills that will provide some concrete protections against dangerous and manipulative AI systems.”

• AB489: Prohibits AI systems from impersonating licensed medical professionals. CFA led a complaint to all of the state Attorneys’ General about this troubling practice in June, and led a coalition of 19 advocacy organizations in calling on Governor Newsom to sign the bill last week.
• AB325: Updates California’s antitrust laws to address algorithmic collusion. It bans pricing algorithms trained on nonpublic competitor data and makes it easier to bring antitrust claims under the Cartwright Act. CFA has supported and testified on proposed bills like this around the country, most recently in Oregon, Colorado, and Maryland. 
• SB 566: Requires web browsers to allow consumers to send a “universal” opt-out signal, which makes it easy and clear for consumers to exercise their right for their data not to be sold. This helps actualize privacy rights and make it more workable for the average consumer. 
• AB 621: Strengthens the private right of action for victims of deepfake non-consensual intimate imagery, allowing people to sue anyone who creates, digitally alters, or distributes some sexually explicit representation of them. CFA recently led a complaint about Elon Musk’s “Grok,” a program that was built to create this type of content. 
• SB 361: Expands reporting and transparency requirements for data brokers operating in California – an incremental but important improvement to address the significant danger data brokers are putting people in each day.
• AB 56:A first-of-its-kind requirement for warning labels on social media platforms, an idea largely popularized by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. 

CFA looks forward to continuing to work with states across the country as well as Congress to expand on these significant improvements for consumers in the coming legislative cycle.