OpenAI backs California teen AI bill
OpenAI has asked Governor Newsom to sign California's SB 1119, a youth AI safety bill whose age-assurance, independent-audit and parental-control requirements would bind any AI product reaching minors in the state.
OpenAI said Monday it has written to Governor Gavin Newsom urging him to sign California Senate Bill 1119, a youth AI safety measure the company says would set a state standard "in the absence of federal action." The post was authored by Ann O'Leary, OpenAI's VP of global policy.
Per OpenAI's description, SB 1119 would require covered products to determine a user's age, identify and address safety risks before release to young people, undergo independent audits, block harmful content including self-harm and sexually exploitative material, give parents tools to guide and limit use, surface crisis-support resources, and limit targeted advertising and personal data use. OpenAI says those protections should apply automatically to users identified as 13 through 17.
The company frames the bill as consistent with its own product direction. Users its systems estimate to be under 18, or who state an age of 13 to 17, are placed into its newly launched ChatGPT for Teens, with safeguards that cannot be switched off. OpenAI cites its Teen Safety Blueprint, parental controls, age prediction, and Under-18 Principles in its Model Spec, which bar romantic engagement, encouragement of emotional dependence, and claims that ChatGPT is human or sentient. It also notes the bill "recognizes that AI is not social media" and preserves features such as memory.
The bill has not been signed. OpenAI's post does not give a decision deadline, bill text details beyond its summary, or which companies fall in scope.