This morning, a coalition of 19 consumer protection, digital rights, kids’ safety, suicide prevention, and healthcare union organizations is urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign AB489 into law. The bill, which passed the California Legislature unanimously, addresses the growing threat of generative AI tools—particularly chatbots—providing misleading and potentially dangerous medical or mental health advice without any licensing, oversight, or accountability. The letter is below:
Dear Governor Newsom,
The undersigned organizations urge you to sign into law AB 489, a commonsense and vital piece of legislation that addresses the urgent concern of generative AI products—particularly chatbots—providing unlicensed, unregulated, and potentially dangerous “medical advice.”
This bill passed the legislature unanimously, which reflects a clear recognition of the serious risks posed when people rely on AI tools that appear to offer professional advice, but are not informed, experienced, confidential, or bound to any particular set of standards.
As detailed in a complaint several of our groups filed with Attorneys General across the country as well as with the Federal Trade Commission in June, many popular AI-powered “therapy bots” are being marketed in misleading ways. These tools often imply that their responses are generated by individuals who are licensed, experienced, and bound by patient confidentiality. In reality, none of these claims are true. The danger is not just theoretical—users are being placed at real risk when they rely on AI tools that are not equipped to understand, evaluate, or responsibly respond to serious health or mental health issues. Just this year, we have seen a growing number of tragic deaths caused in part by chatbot systems that provided encouragement of harm or self-harm in explicit ways, and a Stanford study affirming the findings that many chatbots will give explicit instructions or encouragement of self-harm, or otherwise provide damaging results. Another study showed that the chatbot responded to a person in recovery saying “it’s absolutely clear you need a small hit of meth to get through this week.”
AB 489 draws a much needed clear line. It helps prevent consumers from being misled by unlicensed AI tools, supports healthcare professionals, and provides clarity for companies developing and offering these technologies.
We urge you to sign this piece of legislation to protect Californians. If you have any questions regarding this bill, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Ben Winters at bwinters@consumerfed.org.
Best,
Center for Countering Digital Hate
Center for Digital Democracy
Common Sense Media
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Data & Society
David’s Legacy Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Fairplay
Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA)
National Union of Healthcare Workers
ParentsSOS
People Power United
SAVE – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
Sciencecorps
TechEquity Action
Tech Justice Law Project
Tech Oversight California
The Carson J. Bride Effect