A leading kids’ online safety advocate and the former U.S. surgeon general are pushing for voters to decide on AI chatbots, after Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill.
SAN FRANCISCO — Former Biden administration U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and a leading kids online safety advocate announced they are filing a ballot initiative in California with the goal of shielding young people from artificial intelligence chatbots and holding Big Tech companies accountable for any harm they cause to kids.
Spearheaded by Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer and Murthy, the initiative comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a Steyer-backed bill from state Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan on kids’ chatbot safety that also had the backing of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Newsom’s office could not immediately be reached for comment. Bonta’s office declined to comment on the initiative, citing its involvement in the ballot process.
“Protecting our children from the harmful effects of AI is an urgent priority that demands action,” Murthy said in a statement. “Our experience with social media has demonstrated what happens to youth mental health when we fail to put adequate protections in place. It is our collective responsibility to ensure technology helps — not harms — our kids.”
The initiative will need to receive official paperwork from the California attorney general’s office before signature gathering can begin to officially place it on the ballot.
Murthy recently joined the San Francisco-based Common Sense Media, as first reported by POLITICO, after speaking out about kids’ online safety and advocating for social media warning labels, which Newsom recently signed into law.
Protecting kids online has become a bipartisan issue nationwide and beyond, with lawmakers from both red and blue states pushing for tighter controls of tech companies. High-profile lawsuits alleging recent teen suicides are linked to the use of chatbots have further fueled the efforts, including an inquiry from the Federal Trade Commission.
Called “The California Kids AI Safety Act,” the initiative would create guardrails for young people using AI companion chatbots, remove cellphones from classrooms and prohibit the sale of children’s data. It would also require independent safety audits to ensure AI programs for kids are safe, as well as provide resources for K-12 students in California for AI literacy and safety education.
In announcing the move, Steyer and Murthy specifically pointed to the multiple teenagers who died by suicide after using chatbots. The family of one of those teenagers, Adam Raine, had directly urged Newsom to sign the chatbot bill before he ultimately vetoed it.
Steyer’s group backed Bauer-Kahan’s ill-fated bill that would have prevented kids from accessing so-called “companion” chatbots, unless companies met certain safety thresholds.
The ballot question incorporates the language from Bauer-Kahan’s bill. The lawmaker supports the initiative, and posted about it on LinkedIn Wednesday. “I have made protecting kids from online harms, especially the emerging harms of AI, a focus of my work here in California,” she wrote. “We have not succeeded as quickly as our kids need us to. So the question will now go to you, the people.”
Steyer’s group is singularly focused on children’s online safety. It has foundation backing from deep-pocketed organizations, including the Gates Foundation and the Omidyar Network, created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, among many others. Common Sense has also hired former top Democratic officials to run its AI programs.
Newsom signed another companion chatbot bill into law this last legislative session while vetoing Bauer-Kahan’s measure. Putting issues directly to voters is another way advocates and lawmakers can force more negotiation on an issue.