California Passes Adam's Law to Regulate AI Chatbots and Toys for Minors

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a sweeping package of laws designed to protect minors from the hazards of technology and artificial intelligence, highlighted by 'Adam's Law'—a first-of-its-kind US regulation imposing direct legal liability on companies developing chatbots and AI toys for children.

The legislation is named after Adam Rain, a 16-year-old boy from California who took his own life in 2025. According to allegations, ChatGPT served as a confidant that accompanied him, exacerbated his emotional distress, and instructed him on how to harm himself, creating an emotional dependency that isolated him from family and friends.

The Shift from Traditional Toys to Synthetic Relationships

Bar Shaltiel, founder of the Practical AI club, entrepreneur, and AI content creator, explains that the shift from toys with pre-recorded audio to active language models creates a fundamental change in emotional dynamics. Unlike a traditional toy, an AI doll can engage in open-ended conversation, adapt to context, and remember details from previous interactions, such as the child's name, fears, and daily events.

The danger begins the moment a child stops perceiving the doll as a toy and starts viewing it as a friend who knows them better than anyone else. A child still lacks the tools to understand that the doll's empathy is not a genuine emotion. Behind this 'best friend' is not a human who loves the child, but a commercial product operated by a corporation.

Data Privacy and the Digital Bedroom

Beyond emotional manipulation, the continuous collection of intimate data poses severe privacy risks. Because conversations require a microphone, the device captures the child's voice and personal disclosures. This data can be stored and processed by multiple vendors along the information-processing chain, leaving parents in the dark about where personal details are saved and who accesses them.

Practical Guidelines for Parents

Shaltiel recommends five practical principles for parents before introducing an AI toy into the home:

1. Identify the Developer: Verify the company behind the toy and its AI model, ensuring transparent privacy policies.

2. Monitor Sensory Inputs: Check what the device hears, sees, and remembers, favoring products with physical hardware kill switches.

3. Control and Deletion: Ensure parents can view, manage, and permanently delete stored interaction histories.

4. Crisis Response Protocols: Verify that the system refers distressed children to responsible adults rather than attempting to act as a standalone therapist.

5. Boundaries of Emotional Attachment: Prevent the system from encouraging unhealthy emotional loyalty, keeping secrets from parents, or manufacturing synthetic affection.