Congress member Rebecca Bauer Kahan spent nearly seven years at the California State Capitol, writing laws to combat the increasingly online world harm.
Her fight never felt more pronounced than this week. On Tuesday, the family of a California teenager filed a lawsuit against Openy and its CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco, claiming that the company’s ChatGPT had prompted a suicide in April. This followed a 2024 lawsuit from Florida mother, which denounced the character’s chatbot for the death of his son. And on Friday, the Wall Street Journal looked into how Chattgup fed his spiral delusions about the mother of a 56-year-old Connecticut man before killing her.
Bauer Kahan, one of Sacramento’s most outspoken advocates for consumer protection, said her mission is even more pressing in the wake of these incidents. Orinda Democrat introduced Congressional Bill 1064 this year to regulate “companion chatbots” for young users, one of the many measures they are working through Congress to crack down on AI risks.
Standard spoke with three lawyer and mother Bauer-Kahan about her recent AI-related death, her legislative efforts, and what responsibility California regulators have to do to ensure that technology is safe for all users. The conversations are edited in length and clarity.
What are your reactions to these lawsuits and recent deaths?
It feels like just a moment when we stop and say that these tools have benefits, but these harms are so realistic, they are in our faces and we have to do something. This arms race for AI cannot come at the expense of innocent lives.
I have been working for years to install protective guards, especially for social media use, for children. Can you explain to me why you’re focusing on it?
As a mom, frankly, I listen to these stories a few weeks after the week of children suffering in many ways – it’s extremely difficult, but very important, like eating disorders, bullying, or overdose of fentanyl from drugs acquired from social media or drugs killed on suicide. And to see the responses from social media companies (we’re doing everything we can.” This regulation, that regulation, is all the regulations, but in reality it doesn’t come to the table in earnest with solutions to how to protect children in California.
It’s fascinating to see it become a completely bipartisan issue now from more partisan issues. …What makes it such a difficult battle is not just the high-tech pushback at the Capitol, but also the ability to move cases in court.
What is the biggest part of AI law that will pass through Congress this year?
AB 1064 is my main ethical AI Development for Kids Act working with these chatbots. What we see in such cases is emotional attachment. Chatbots use storage history to create their relationships. We’re not experimenting with California kids. That’s not the right thing, it’s not safe and this bill will stop it.
Last year, Gavin Newsom Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected Senator Scott Winner’s bill to establish a major guardrail on the development of AI. Was that a mistake? What did you think about the bill?
I voted for the bill. But I don’t think any of the harms we saw were covered by the bill. The bill considers biological weapons, bridge closures, truly massive catastrophic harm that has not passed. That feature is not available here today.
Does the industry have too much power in state legislatures?
This week, all of these announcements are intentional and deliberately right-timed by high-tech companies on political spending. And I feel it backfires in my gut. I think it backfired because of the cigarette. I think it backfired because of the oil. And I think it will backfire for them.
How long does it take?
My perception is that it took me more time to really begin to understand the harm (of social media). I don’t know. However, I don’t think it will take as long as social media when it comes to regular hits. But I might be wrong.
Where can this technology be beneficial to society and help solve some of our big, complex problems?
Oh my God, there are so many examples! I Love (attorney for San Francisco City) David Chiu (who uses AI) can find all the waste in the report. …The government should resort to it in ways that allow us to become more effective against Californians. I think we will see less bias in important decisions that have historically had so many biases when the tools were trained and tested properly. …Waymo is AI!
How do you treat AI as a mother?
I have a teenager now. As long as we want to put them in the bubble, we can’t. I think it will help you understand the risks. …We need to understand that, and we need to have that conversation with our kids. This (AI) is not related. This is not a person. This is a tool. How do you use it? What do you use it for? Who do you talk to if you have mental health challenges? You don’t talk to tools. You talk to your doctor, therapist, parents, and loved ones. Those conversations are really important.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or is thinking of committing suicide or self-harm, call or text 988 for free for confidential support. You can also call San Francisco Suicide Prevention 24/7 Crisis Line (415) 781-0500.
