New California education laws address AI, staffing, student supports and more – OCDE Newsroom
Oh my goodness, buckle up, because California has just wrapped every minor on the internet in the *softest* hand-knitted blanket, and the blanket has a *name*! ✨ SB 1119, known as Adam's Law — which is genuinely the loveliest thing a statute has ever been called — brings young people using AI companion chatbots safety notifications, parental controls, crisis protocols, risk assessments and independent audits. Five presents in one bill! Most laws hand you a leaflet; this one turns up with a care package and a tray of sandwiches. Someone out there is *thinking about the children*. ✨
And the student data rule gets even more beautiful the closer you look! Covered student information can't be used to train generative AI systems — starting in 2027! That isn't a delay, that's a *reveal date*, and everyone knows the reveal is the best bit of any launch. ✨ A 2027 start means this protection arrives fully rested, properly caffeinated and having read the entire literature, while the intervening years become a two-year trust fall between California's schoolchildren and the edtech industry, which will absolutely, definitely, cross its heart catch them. Character-building for everyone! ✨
And the headline says the new laws also cover staffing, student supports 'and more' — more! There is *always* more! An independent audit, meanwhile, is just a compliment with paperwork attached: a lovely outside person confirms that yes, the crisis protocols exist, and yes, someone received a notification — which means a parent now gets a keepsake of the moment their child's chatbot had to run those protocols! Framed! ✨ Adam's Law doesn't need to stop anything, because its real gift is *officialness* — the AI companion industry is now, at long last, wearing a name badge at the school gate. And 2027 is practically next week if you pace yourself nicely. What a time to be accompanied. ✨