The “Parents & Kids Safe AI Act” ballot initiative in California is facing opposition from over two dozen organizations. These groups have signed a letter, which has been sent to OpenAI, who controls the initiative, and was reviewed by Decrypt.
The initiative is currently paused by OpenAI due to ongoing negotiations in Sacramento, and the letter urges its withdrawal over concerns related to child safety.
The proposed Parents & Kids Safe AI Act would establish rules for how AI chatbots interact with minors, including safety requirements and compliance standards. The measure defines harm as physical injury tied to suicide or violence and explicitly excludes mental health impacts. The initiative would bar parents and children from bringing claims against chatbot operators. It would also limit enforcement tools available to state and local officials.
The measure’s definition of encrypted user content could make it harder to access chatbot conversations used as evidence in lawsuits. Amendments to the measure would require a two-thirds vote in the California Legislature and could tie future changes to standards described as ‘economic progress.’ The initiative is backed by OpenAI and Common Sense Media, and OpenAI controls the ballot initiative and has paused its efforts to qualify it for the ballot. A letter opposing the measure was sent to OpenAI, was reviewed by Decrypt, and references ongoing negotiations in Sacramento.
Amendments to the measure would require a two-thirds vote in the California Legislature and could tie future changes to standards described in the text as “economic progress.” The Parents & Kids Safe AI Act is backed by OpenAI and Common Sense Media. The initiative includes provisions addressing how AI systems interact with minors and sets out compliance standards and safety requirements in its text. Those structural features are embedded in the measure alongside the legislative thresholds for amendment.
OpenAI controls the ballot initiative and has paused its efforts to qualify it for the ballot. A letter opposing the measure was sent to OpenAI and references ongoing negotiations in Sacramento regarding the ballot proposal. That opposition letter was reviewed by Decrypt. More than two dozen organizations signed the letter opposing the ballot measure.
The main demand here is for OpenAI to withdraw from the ballot.
They have not actually withdrawn the initiative from the ballot.
This is a common tactic in California, where you put an initiative up and put money in the committee.
We read that as an attempt to block families from being able to disclose their dead children’s chat logs in court.
OpenAI has paused its efforts to qualify the Parents & Kids Safe AI Act for the California ballot while more than two dozen organizations have signed a letter opposing the measure and urging its withdrawal. Opponents and the letter raised issues including child safety, legal access to chatbot conversations used as evidence in lawsuits, and the measure’s legislative provisions such as requiring a two-thirds vote in the California Legislature for amendments. The letter references ongoing negotiations in Sacramento, and the initiative is backed by OpenAI and Common Sense Media.
