--- title: California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance... description: California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 13 AI-related bills on September 30, including the No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947), which bans employers from using... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance and AI-only firings | daily.dev og:description: California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 13 AI-related bills on September 30, including the No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947), which bans employers from using... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/GZSpV0iKB.png og:image:alt: California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance and AI-only firings og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance and AI-only firings **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 4 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 13 AI-related bills on September 30, including the No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947), which bans employers from using automated systems alone to discipline or fire workers, requiring human review and worker notice, effective July 1, 2027. Other bills ban AI emotion and neural-data tracking at work (AB 1883), require disclosure when layoffs are AI-driven, and address bathroom monitoring. Additional measures protect doctors' clinical judgment, ban deleting AI watermarks, strengthen deepfake likeness protections, and require gene synthesis companies to verify customers. Newsom vetoed SB 1130, a bill targeting covert smart-glasses recording, citing an overly broad definition of wearable recording devices. ## Content California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 13 AI-related bills on 30 September. Several of them deal with how employers can use AI on their workers. One caveat first: an early post described the signing as an executive order. The more detailed account describes a set of bills, so that is how I've written it up. ## Workplace rules - **No AI-only firings.** The No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) bars employers from using an automated system alone to discipline or fire workers. It requires human review and notice to the worker, and takes effect July 1, 2027. - **No emotion tracking.** AB 1883 bans AI surveillance tools that recognize or predict an employee's emotional state. It also bans tools that collect neural data, such as readings from brain or nervous system sensors. - **Layoff disclosure.** Employers must tell workers when a mass layoff, relocation, or termination is caused by an AI system. - **Bathroom monitoring.** One of the bills addresses it. ## Beyond the workplace The package also covers other areas. It protects doctors' own judgment when clinical AI tools are used. It bans deleting AI watermarks and strengthens likeness protections against deepfakes. Gene synthesis companies must verify their customers and screen what they ship. Other bills deal with AI use by lawyers and in schools. ## The veto Newsom vetoed SB 1130, which would have penalized covert recording with smart glasses. He said its definition of wearable recording devices was too broad. ## Context The signings came after criticism of a White House AI safety accord event. Newsom called the discussion there "bullsh*t." The ban on AI-only firings is the part I'd watch. A "human review" requirement is easy to meet on paper, and it will take enforcement to show whether it changes how decisions get made. ## Questions this post answers ### What does California's No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) require of employers? SB 947 bars employers from using an automated system alone to discipline or fire workers, requiring human review of any such decision and notice to the affected worker. It takes effect July 1, 2027, meaning California employers have until then to build human review steps into any AI-assisted termination or discipline process. _Teams building HR or workforce AI tools can track rollouts like this one on daily.dev ahead of compliance deadlines._ ### What does California's AB 1883 ban regarding AI monitoring of employees? AB 1883 bans AI surveillance tools that recognize or predict an employee's emotional state, and also bans tools that collect neural data, such as readings from brain or nervous system sensors. It is one of several California bills signed alongside the No Robo Bosses Act restricting employer use of AI on workers. _Developers working on workplace monitoring products can follow evolving AI surveillance rules on daily.dev._ ### Why did Governor Newsom veto SB 1130 in California? Newsom vetoed SB 1130, a bill that would have penalized covert recording with smart glasses, because he found its definition of wearable recording devices too broad. The veto came as part of a broader package of AI bills signed on September 30, most of which he did approve. _Anyone building wearable or recording tech can watch how states draw these legal lines via daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@petecapecod** · 0 upvotes > bathroom monitoring, well that's **NOT COOL!** These all sound like pretty good decisions to me. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [California becomes first state to regulate AI companion chatbots](https://daily.dev/posts/california-becomes-first-state-to-regulate-ai-companion-chatbots-wmxh3ska5) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [California launches first AI job-loss tracker](https://daily.dev/posts/california-launches-first-ai-job-loss-tracker-dmujj1ada) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A new bill in New York would require disclaimers on AI-generated news content](https://daily.dev/posts/a-new-bill-in-new-york-would-require-disclaimers-on-ai-generated-news-content-dlwb8mpfu) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Chinese courts rule AI replacement is not legal grounds for firing workers as global tech layoffs hit 78,000](https://daily.dev/posts/chinese-courts-rule-ai-replacement-is-not-legal-grounds-for-firing-workers-as-global-tech-layoffs-hi-8qn0es9ru) · The Next Web · 5 upvotes · 1 comments - [Senators want companies to report AI layoffs amid job cuts](https://daily.dev/posts/senators-want-companies-to-report-ai-layoffs-amid-job-cuts-5kwtmneen) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ethical-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ethical-ai), [#ai-regulation](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-regulation) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance and AI-only firings","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb"},"datePublished":"2026-10-02T12:03:28.153Z","dateModified":"2026-10-02T12:04:06.776Z","description":"California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 13 AI-related bills on September 30, including the No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947), which bans employers from using...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/634c0eb1c6a27d27deacc134d3d18815?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/634c0eb1c6a27d27deacc134d3d18815?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"ethical-ai,ai-regulation","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"California's new AI laws limit workplace surveillance and AI-only firings"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"bathroom monitoring, well that’s NOT COOL! These all sound like pretty good decisions to me.","datePublished":"2026-10-02T12:49:17.715Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/GZSpV0iKB#c-h4o0XWW2F","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Peter Cruckshank","url":"https://daily.dev/petecapecod","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ZJhQyKws--/f_auto/v1721235024/avatars/avatar_A9xh33q0QoxtkGoJRCosp"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/california-s-new-ai-laws-limit-workplace-surveillance-and-ai-only-firings-gzspv0ikb#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What does California's No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) require of employers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SB 947 bars employers from using an automated system alone to discipline or fire workers, requiring human review of any such decision and notice to the affected worker. 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