California AB 2023 — AI Chatbot Safety Standards for Minors (CA AB 2023)
Establishes baseline safety and transparency standards for general-purpose AI chatbots available to minors. Requires age-tiered feature gating, clear disclosure that the user is interacting with AI, and prohibits engagement-maximizing dark patterns on minor accounts.
Key Provisions
What CA AB 2023 requires
Age-tiered feature gating (under 13, 13–15, 16–17) for AI chatbot products
Requires the chatbot to assert a verifiable age tier before age-restricted features are unlocked
Mandates a persistent 'this is AI, not a person' disclosure at session start and on request
Prohibits engagement-maximizing dark patterns (streaks, guilt prompts) targeting minors
Annual transparency report on minor-user safety incidents
Rule Categories Covered
Phosra enforcement categories for CA AB 2023
AI Chatbot Tier Gate
access controlGates AI chatbot access by a 4-tier risk scale, blocking tiers above the configured threshold.
AI Chatbot Age Assertion
access controlRequires AI chatbot products to assert and verify the user's age band before any conversational interaction.
AI Is-It-Real Disclosure
reportingRequires AI-generated content to carry a 'this is AI' label visible to minor users at the moment of consumption.
AI No-Engagement Dark Patterns
algorithmicBlocks AI products from deploying engagement maximizers (streaks, infinite scroll, manipulative nudges) on minor users.
Platforms Affected
Platforms covered by CA AB 2023
MCP Enforcement
Enforce CA AB 2023 with a single API call
// Enforce CA AB 2023 compliance
tool: trigger_child_enforcement
input: {
child_id: "ch_emma_01",
law: "CA_AB_2023",
rules: [
"ai_chatbot_tier_gate",
"ai_chatbot_age_assertion",
"ai_is_it_real_disclosure",
"ai_no_engagement_dark_patterns"]
}
→ ChatGPT enforcement applied ✓
→ Gemini enforcement applied ✓
→ Claude enforcement applied ✓
→ Character.AI enforcement applied ✓
Start building CA AB 2023-compliant features today
Phosra handles the complexity of multi-platform compliance so you can focus on building great products for families.