The California Bill would temporarily ban the manufacture and sale of toys with built-in chatbot artificial intelligence for children under 18.
California State Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 867, proposing a four-year moratorium on the manufacture, sale, or exchange of toys that include companion chatbots for children 12 and under. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the committee on January 5, 2026.
SB 867, as introduced, would add and then repeal a chapter in the California Business and Professions Code that prohibits any person from manufacturing, selling, exchanging, or offering for sale to a retailer a toy with a “companion chatbot,” defined in existing law as an artificial intelligence system with a natural-language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user input. The prohibition would remain in effect until January 1, 2031.
Under the bill text, a “toy” is a product designed or intended by the manufacturer for play by children 12 years of age or less.
Senator Padilla’s office said in a January 2 press release that the moratorium would “allow time for safety regulations to be developed protecting children from dangerous AI interactions.” “Chatbots and other AI tools may become integral parts of our lives in the future, but the dangers they pose now require us to take bold action to protect our children,” Padilla said.
SB 867 builds on earlier California legislation regulating companion chatbots. In October 2025, the state enacted Senate Bill 243, which requires operators of companion chatbot platforms to disclose that chatbots are artificially generated and to implement safety protocols, including protections for minors.
