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Committee backs AB 489 to bar AI systems from posing as licensed health professionals
Summary
Lawmakers advanced AB 489, which would prohibit AI systems from representing themselves as licensed health professionals and make deployers and developers liable for misrepresentation; the bill drew broad support from medical societies and unions and was sent to Senate Judiciary.
Assemblymember Bonta introduced AB 489 to prevent artificial-intelligence systems from misrepresenting themselves as licensed health professionals. The Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee voted to move the bill to Senate Judiciary.
Bonta said the rise of generative AI has produced systems that can convincingly mimic clinicians and that the bill applies existing title protections to AI systems so a chatbot or voice agent cannot claim to be a physician, nurse or psychologist. "This bill will draw a bright line and say an AI system cannot misrepresent an AI agent itself as a health professional, period," Bonta said.
Witnesses included Matt Leger of SEIU California and George Soares of the California Medical Association, both cosponsors. Leger said the bill protects the public—s trust in health professionals; Soares said AI can augment care but should not replace licensed expertise or claim provider status.
Supporters from a broad set of health groups — including the California Academy of Family Physicians, Kaiser Permanente, the California Association for Nurse Practitioners, and others — gave "me too" testimony in favor. No proponents of opposition appeared in committee testimony.
Committee members asked whether the bill would hold developers and deployers liable and whether a licensed clinician using AI in practice would be covered; authors and sponsors said the text targets cases where an AI represents itself as a licensed provider and that liability and scope questions could be addressed in subsequent committee review. The measure was moved to Senate Judiciary for further work.
Why it matters: Supporters said the bill protects patients and public trust when emerging AI-based services are presented as licensed health professionals. Opponents were not recorded in committee testimony; members noted liability and scope questions would be addressed in later committee hearings.
Next steps: AB 489 was referred to Senate Judiciary for additional policy and potential liability work.
