California Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Buffy Wicks, and Steve Padilla have amended their joint legislative efforts, Assembly Bill 2023 and Senate Bill 1119, to protect children from the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) companion chatbots. The bills establish critical guardrails to ensure that these platforms cannot harm young users. They include bans on AI chatbots from generating or displaying content harmful to minors, including self-harm, sexually explicit material, and manipulative or dehumanizing language. New accountability standards for operators, strict data protections, independent audits of operator compliance, and default chatbot settings to prioritize privacy, limit interruptions and enforce usage caps for minors. The legislation comes as AI companion apps have become popular among teenagers, with 72% of teens using an AI companion app and over half are regular users.