California signs first US law regulating AI chatbots, defying White House stance
Technology
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed the nation’s first law regulating artificial intelligence chatbots, defying White House calls for a hands-off approach. The measure requires chatbot operators to implement safeguards for user interactions and allows lawsuits if failures cause harm, state senator Steve Padilla, the bill’s sponsor, said.
14/10/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24
Online users are increasingly utilising AI-powered chatbots in search of reliable information despite rampant misinformation © Lionel Bonaventure, AFP
California governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a first-of-its-kind law regulating artificial intelligence chatbots, defying a push from the White House to leave such technology unchecked.
"We've seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won't stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability," Newson said after signing the bill into law.
The landmark law requires chatbot operators to implement "critical" safeguards regarding interactions with AI chatbots and provides an avenue for people to file lawsuits if failures to do so lead to tragedies, according to state senator Steve Padilla, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.
The law comes after revelations of suicides involving teens who used chatbots prior to taking their lives.
"The Tech Industry is incentivised to capture young people's attention and hold it at the expense of their real world relationships," Padilla said prior to the bill being voted on in the state senate.
Padilla referred to recent teen suicides including that of the 14-year-old son of Florida mother Megan Garcia.
Megan Garcia's son, Sewell, had fallen in love with a "Game of Thrones"-inspired chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that allows users – many of them young people – to interact with beloved characters as friends or lovers.
When Sewell struggled with suicidal thoughts, the chatbot urged him to "come home".
Seconds later, Sewell shot himself with his father's handgun, according to the lawsuit Garcia filed against Character.AI.
"Today, California has ensured that a companion chatbot will not be able to speak to a child or vulnerable individual about suicide, nor will a chatbot be able to help a person to plan his or her own suicide," Garcia said of the new law.
"Finally, there is a law that requires companies to protect their users who express suicidal ideations to chatbots."
National rules aimed at curbing AI risks do not exist in the United States, with the White House seeking to block individual states from creating their own.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
California governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a first-of-its-kind law regulating artificial intelligence chatbots, defying a push from the White House to leave such technology unchecked.
"We've seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won't stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability," Newson said after signing the bill into law.
The landmark law requires chatbot operators to implement "critical" safeguards regarding interactions with AI chatbots and provides an avenue for people to file lawsuits if failures to do so lead to tragedies, according to state senator Steve Padilla, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.
The law comes after revelations of suicides involving teens who used chatbots prior to taking their lives.
"The Tech Industry is incentivised to capture young people's attention and hold it at the expense of their real world relationships," Padilla said prior to the bill being voted on in the state senate.
Padilla referred to recent teen suicides including that of the 14-year-old son of Florida mother Megan Garcia.
Megan Garcia's son, Sewell, had fallen in love with a "Game of Thrones"-inspired chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that allows users – many of them young people – to interact with beloved characters as friends or lovers.
When Sewell struggled with suicidal thoughts, the chatbot urged him to "come home".
Seconds later, Sewell shot himself with his father's handgun, according to the lawsuit Garcia filed against Character.AI.
"Today, California has ensured that a companion chatbot will not be able to speak to a child or vulnerable individual about suicide, nor will a chatbot be able to help a person to plan his or her own suicide," Garcia said of the new law.
"Finally, there is a law that requires companies to protect their users who express suicidal ideations to chatbots."
National rules aimed at curbing AI risks do not exist in the United States, with the White House seeking to block individual states from creating their own.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
TirANA, the ‘candidate’ created by AI. Photo:
Denisa Kele, Tomi Kallanxhi, Besmir Semanaj/Facebook.
October 14, 2025 By Balkan Insight
After Albania’s government appointed an AI-generated digital assistant as a ‘minister’, a group of information technology experts have proposed an AI ‘candidate’ for the upcoming Tirana mayoral election.
By Blerina Gjoka
Three Albanian IT experts say they are putting forward an artificial intelligence ‘candidate’ for the upcoming mayoral elections in the capital, called TirANA (Tirana Algorithmic Neural Assistant) – although it’s not yet clear if the electoral authorities will accept it.
Their initiative comes after Prime Minister Edi Rama appointed an AI-generated ‘minister’ named Diella to his cabinet – a digital assistant that formerly provided online services to the public through the state-run e-Albania portal.
“Behind this project [for the AI mayoral candidate] stands a large team of experts from various fields – technology, urban planning, environment, transport, the economy, justice and the public services – who believe that the city of Tirana needs a new approach, based on transparency, efficiency and accountability,” IT experts Denisa Kele, Tomi Kallanxhi and Besmir Semanaj wrote in a Facebook post.
They claimed that the initiative, first made public last week, was not just an attempt to satirise Rama’s AI ‘minister’
“Our goal is not just to make a comparison with Diella, even though the comparison arises naturally. We are testing the legal boundaries to see whether it is possible for such an entity to register with the Central Election Commission (CEC),” Semanaj, one of the creators of TirANA, told BIRN.
When asked by BIRN about the AI-created ‘candidate’, the CEC told BIRN that any matter related to the registration of electoral subjects or candidates is examined only when an official request or application is submitted, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines set by the electoral code. The CEC added that it cannot comment on hypothetical or media-reported situations.
“However, legally, the right to register as a candidate in elections belongs only to Albanian citizens who meet the criteria set out in the constitution and the electoral code,” the CEC said.
The date of the election in Tirana remains unclear after a legal challenge by the ousted former mayor, Erion Veliaj, who is in custody awaiting trial on corruption charges. The Constitutional Court is due to rule on the issue on October 31.
Comparing the IT experts’ virtual creation to the government’s ‘minister’, Semanaj insisted that, unlike Diella, TirANA’s digital ‘candidate’ adheres to transparent standards for the public, where “every citizen has the opportunity to see the code, monitor the data sources, and verify its functionality”.
“This is the example we’re giving of what Diella should have been, unlike what exists today, where the code is unknown, the sources are not transparent, and the process is closed,” he said.
Prime Minister Rama made headlines around the world when he announced that he was entrusting a ministerial portfolio to AI-generated digital assistant Diella, which he said would be responsible for public procurement – a sector widely regarded as a breeding ground for corruption. Rama claims it will reduce graft, nepotism and conflicts of interest in public procurement processes.
The decision was criticised as lacking any legal basis, but Albania’s president included the artificial minister in his decree appointing Rama as prime minister, which also assigned Rama “the responsibility for the establishment and operation of the virtual minister”.
The opposition was furious when the ‘minister’ Diella made a ‘speech’ to parliament last month, arguing that the AI entity was a smokescreen intended to hide poor governance by Rama, who was returned to power for a historic fourth term in May’s general elections.
October 14, 2025 By Balkan Insight
After Albania’s government appointed an AI-generated digital assistant as a ‘minister’, a group of information technology experts have proposed an AI ‘candidate’ for the upcoming Tirana mayoral election.
By Blerina Gjoka
Three Albanian IT experts say they are putting forward an artificial intelligence ‘candidate’ for the upcoming mayoral elections in the capital, called TirANA (Tirana Algorithmic Neural Assistant) – although it’s not yet clear if the electoral authorities will accept it.
Their initiative comes after Prime Minister Edi Rama appointed an AI-generated ‘minister’ named Diella to his cabinet – a digital assistant that formerly provided online services to the public through the state-run e-Albania portal.
“Behind this project [for the AI mayoral candidate] stands a large team of experts from various fields – technology, urban planning, environment, transport, the economy, justice and the public services – who believe that the city of Tirana needs a new approach, based on transparency, efficiency and accountability,” IT experts Denisa Kele, Tomi Kallanxhi and Besmir Semanaj wrote in a Facebook post.
They claimed that the initiative, first made public last week, was not just an attempt to satirise Rama’s AI ‘minister’
“Our goal is not just to make a comparison with Diella, even though the comparison arises naturally. We are testing the legal boundaries to see whether it is possible for such an entity to register with the Central Election Commission (CEC),” Semanaj, one of the creators of TirANA, told BIRN.
When asked by BIRN about the AI-created ‘candidate’, the CEC told BIRN that any matter related to the registration of electoral subjects or candidates is examined only when an official request or application is submitted, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines set by the electoral code. The CEC added that it cannot comment on hypothetical or media-reported situations.
“However, legally, the right to register as a candidate in elections belongs only to Albanian citizens who meet the criteria set out in the constitution and the electoral code,” the CEC said.
The date of the election in Tirana remains unclear after a legal challenge by the ousted former mayor, Erion Veliaj, who is in custody awaiting trial on corruption charges. The Constitutional Court is due to rule on the issue on October 31.
Comparing the IT experts’ virtual creation to the government’s ‘minister’, Semanaj insisted that, unlike Diella, TirANA’s digital ‘candidate’ adheres to transparent standards for the public, where “every citizen has the opportunity to see the code, monitor the data sources, and verify its functionality”.
“This is the example we’re giving of what Diella should have been, unlike what exists today, where the code is unknown, the sources are not transparent, and the process is closed,” he said.
Prime Minister Rama made headlines around the world when he announced that he was entrusting a ministerial portfolio to AI-generated digital assistant Diella, which he said would be responsible for public procurement – a sector widely regarded as a breeding ground for corruption. Rama claims it will reduce graft, nepotism and conflicts of interest in public procurement processes.
The decision was criticised as lacking any legal basis, but Albania’s president included the artificial minister in his decree appointing Rama as prime minister, which also assigned Rama “the responsibility for the establishment and operation of the virtual minister”.
The opposition was furious when the ‘minister’ Diella made a ‘speech’ to parliament last month, arguing that the AI entity was a smokescreen intended to hide poor governance by Rama, who was returned to power for a historic fourth term in May’s general elections.
Balkan Insight
The Balkan Insight (formerly the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.
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