California AB 1609 – Customer Service Chatbots Bill

California's AB 1609, a bill addressing customer service chatbots, was amended by the Senate and remains pending, with no effective date set as of its latest record on June 25, 2026. The bill has not been signed into law and is not yet in force. Separately, California requires generative-AI providers with over 1,000,000 monthly users to offer a free AI-detection tool and embed provenance disclosures, operative August 2, 2026.

AB 1609 is a California state bill focused on customer service chatbots. It has been amended in the Senate, remains pending, and no effective date has been set. AB 1609, titled “Customer service chatbots,” is a bill introduced in the California legislature. It seeks to address issues related to the use of chatbots for customer service. The bill was amended by the Senate and is currently listed as pending. The latest record of the bill was dated June 25, 2026. Because the bill has not been signed into law and its effective date is unknown, it is not yet in force. California — what the law requires The figures AI Law Tracker holds for California — tracked jurisdiction-wide, not derived from this story. See every source on the California law page → /laws/california Key requirement. Generative-AI providers with over 1,000,000 monthly users must offer a free AI-detection tool and embed a latent provenance disclosure in AI-generated image, video and audio content, plus an optional visible manifest disclosure. Operative August 2, 2026 delayed from January 1, 2026 by AB 853 . Jurisdiction record last verified Jul 10, 2026 Sources & citations - All factual statements about AB 1609, its title, status, amendment, pending nature, record date, and unknown effective date are drawn from the official bill record. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill id=202520260AB1609 See the full AI law picture for California Statuses, deadlines, penalties, and primary sources — kept current on AI Law Tracker.