California - SB 1001 Bot Disclosure Law (2018)

Enacted in 2018 and effective 1 July 2019, SB 1001 (California Business and Professions Code sections 17940 to 17943) was one of the earliest US laws to regulate automated online communications. It targets bots, defined as automated online accounts where the actions or posts are not the result of a person, that are used to communicate with people in California. The law addresses transparency in commerce and elections rather than the underlying AI technology.

The Act makes it unlawful to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person online with the intent to mislead about the bot's artificial identity in order to knowingly deceive the person about the content of the communication, where the purpose is to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction, or to influence a vote in an election. A person is not liable if they clearly and conspicuously disclose that the communication is from a bot. Enforcement runs through California's unfair-competition law rather than a dedicated agency.