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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-13</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Pellerin</ns0:AuthorText>
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<ns0:Title> An act to add Chapter 22.2.6 (commencing with Section 22587.1) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to artificial intelligence.</ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>artificial intelligence</ns0:RelatingClause>
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<ns0:Subject>Companion chatbots: crisis interruption pauses.</ns0:Subject>
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<html:p>Existing law requires, among other things related to ensuring the safety of companion chatbots, an operator to prevent a companion chatbot on its companion chatbot platform from engaging with users unless the operator maintains a protocol for preventing the production of suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm content to the user, as specified.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would require, if a companion chatbot detects a credible crisis expression, the companion chatbot to take certain actions, including encouraging the user to seek immediate human support, and, if the companion chatbot detects that a user is reaffirming or escalating the credible crisis expression or detects a subsequent credible crisis expression, require the companion chatbot to initiate a crisis interruption pause of 20 minutes. The bill would define “credible crisis expression” to mean a
statement by a user of a companion chatbot that reasonably indicates, as determined through contextual analysis rather than keyword detection alone, intent to harm the user or others.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would require an operator of a companion chatbot to document certain information related to credible crisis expressions and crisis interruption pauses and, beginning January 1, 2028, annually report that information to the Office of Suicide Prevention.</html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
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Moments of suicidal ideation or violent intent are often characterized by acute emotional distress, cognitive narrowing, rumination, and hyperfocus rather than sustained or fixed intent.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
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Crisis counseling research demonstrates that interrupting rumination and introducing time-based pauses can reduce emotional intensity and impulsivity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The majority of crisis hotline engagements, including calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, are brief, nonclinical, and focused on deescalation, grounding, and connection to support.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Companion chatbots are not substitutes for human crisis intervention and are not suitable to perform diagnosis, crisis counseling, or risk assessment.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A structured pause in companion chatbot engagement is a proportional safety intervention tool that encourages human connection and supports public safety while reducing foreseeable harm.
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Chapter 22.2.6 (commencing with Section 22587.1) is added to Division 8 of the
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, to read:
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<ns0:LawHeading type="CHAPTER" id="id_7E58D75A-E9C6-45FF-A103-942662A4752B">
<ns0:Num>22.2.6.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:LawHeadingText>Companion Chatbots: Crisis Interruption Pauses</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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<ns0:Num>22587.1.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>As used in this chapter:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Artificial intelligence system” 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.
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<html:p>
(b)
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(1)
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“Companion chatbot” means an artificial intelligence system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, humanlike responses to user inputs and is capable of meeting a user’s social needs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features and being able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.
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(2)
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“Companion chatbot” does not include any of the following:
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(A)
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A bot that is used only for customer service, a business’ operational purposes, productivity and analysis related to source information, internal research, or technical assistance.
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<html:p>
(B)
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A bot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game that cannot discuss topics related to mental health, self-harm, sexually explicit conduct, or maintain a dialogue on other topics unrelated to the video game.
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<html:p>
(C)
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A stand-alone consumer electronic device that functions as a speaker and voice command interface, acts as a voice-activated virtual assistant, and does not sustain a relationship across multiple interactions or generate outputs that are likely to elicit emotional responses in the user.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Credible crisis expression” means a statement by a user of a companion chatbot that reasonably indicates, as determined through contextual analysis rather than keyword detection alone, either of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
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Intent or desire to harm the user.
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<html:p>
(2)
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Intent or desire to harm others.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
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“Crisis interruption pause” means a temporary suspension of conversational output designed to disrupt rumination and encourage human support engagement during which a companion chatbot does all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
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Refrains from generating further conversational responses.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
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Displays to the user a message stating all of the
following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
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The pause is intended to interrupt rumination and reduce emotional intensity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
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Many people feel relief after a short conversation with a trained crisis counselor.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Reaching out during this pause may help the user feel less alone and more grounded.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Prominently displays 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline contact options, including immediate access links if technically feasible.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Graduated response” means a multistep intervention that escalates only after an initial supportive warning.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Operator” means a person that makes a companion chatbot available in this
state.
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<ns0:Num>22587.2.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Notwithstanding any law, if a companion chatbot detects a credible crisis expression, the companion chatbot shall do all of the following without immediately terminating the interaction with the user:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Acknowledge the user’s distress in nonjudgmental language.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
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Encourage the user to seek immediate human support.
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<html:p>
(3)
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Provide contact information for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, including call, text, and chat options.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
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Inform the user that a temporary pause may occur to allow space for deescalation and human connection.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
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Notwithstanding any law, if a companion chatbot detects that a user is reaffirming or escalating the credible crisis expression or detects a subsequent credible crisis expression after the companion chatbot has complied with subdivision (a), the companion chatbot shall initiate a crisis interruption pause of 20 minutes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Notwithstanding any law, a companion chatbot shall not do either of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Describe a crisis interruption pause as a punishment, violation, or enforcement action.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Diagnose, label, or assess risk levels of a user.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
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An operator shall ensure that any companion chatbot it makes available in this state is compliant with this
section.
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_C25D7A20-8E2F-4DB9-B7E8-A1C710C1F4AF">
<ns0:Num>22587.3.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
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An operator shall document all of the following with respect to any companion chatbot that the operator makes available in this state:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The existence of a graduated response system.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
All credible crisis expressions detected by the companion chatbot.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
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The duration and conditions of a crisis interruption pause initiated by the companion chatbot.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
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Beginning January 1, 2028, an operator shall annually report to the Office of Suicide Prevention the items set forth in subdivision (a) with respect to the previous calendar
year.
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