California AB 410 (Bots: Disclosure 2025)

Proposed 2025-02-04 | Official source

Summary

Defines "artificial intelligence," "bot," and "generative AI." Prohibits using bots for deceptive interactions online in California unless disclosed as bots. Requires clear bot disclosure. Empowers officials to enforce violations with injunctive relief or $1,000 per violation civil penalties.

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This document has not been enacted or otherwise finalized and is subject to change. This summary is based on a copy of the document collected 2026-04-26 - refer to the official source for the most current version.

Key facts

🏛️ This document has been proposed by the State of California, but is not yet enacted. For authoritative text and metadata, visit the official source.

📜 This document's name is California AB 410 (Bots: Disclosure 2025).

Themes AI risks, applications, governance strategies, and other themes addressed in AGORA documents.

This document has not been enacted or otherwise finalized and is subject to change. This summary is based on a copy of the document collected 2026-04-26 - refer to the official source for the most current version.

Thematic tags are in progress.

Full text

This is an unofficial copy. The document has been archived and reformatted in plaintext for AGORA. Footnotes, tables, and similar material may be omitted. For the official text, visit the original source.
This text may be out of date. According to the latest data in AGORA, this document has been proposed, but is not yet enacted or otherwise finalized. This text was collected 2026-04-26 and may have been revised in the meantime. Visit the official source for authoritative text.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 17940 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 17940. For purposes of this chapter: (a) “Artificial intelligence” means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments. (b) “Bot” means an automated online account or application that a reasonable person could believe is a human being and with respect to which substantially all of the actions or posts of that account or application are the outputs of generative artificial intelligence.

(c) “Generative artificial intelligence” means artificial intelligence that can generate derived synthetic content, including text, images, video, and audio that emulates the structure and characteristics of the system’s training data. (d) “Online” means appearing on any public-facing internet website, web application, or digital application, including a social network or publication. (e) “Person” means a natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal entity or any combination thereof.

SEC. 2. Section 17941 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 17941. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person in California online, with the intent to mislead the other person about its artificial identity for the purpose of knowingly deceiving the person about the content of the communication in order to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction or to influence a vote in an election. A person using a bot shall not be liable under this section if the person discloses that it is a bot.

(b) A person who uses a bot to autonomously communicate with another shall ensure that the bot does all of the following: (1) Discloses to any person with whom the bot communicates when the bot first communicates with the person that the bot is a bot and not a human being. (2) Answers truthfully any subsequent query from a person regarding its identity as a bot or a human. (3) Refrains from attempting to mislead a person regarding its identity as a bot.

(c) The disclosure required by this section shall be clear, conspicuous, and reasonably designed to inform persons with whom the bot communicates or interacts that it is a bot. (d) If a person who uses a bot is required by another law to comply with a more prescriptive disclosure scheme than this chapter, the person is not required to comply with this chapter.

SEC. 3. Section 17942 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 17942. (a) The duties and obligations imposed by this chapter are cumulative with any other duties or obligation imposed by any other law. (b) The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 4. Section 17943 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 5. Section 17943 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 17943. The Attorney General, a district attorney, a county counsel, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor may bring an action against a person who violates this chapter to obtain either of the following relief: (a) Injunctive relief. (b) A civil penalty of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation.