United States of America: Bill amending Civil Code to address Artificial Intelligence defences in civil actions (AB 316) was adopted by California State Legislature

On 9 September 2025, the California State Legislature adopted Assembly Bill No. 316 on artificial intelligence: defences, amending the California Civil Code through the addition of Section 1714.46. The provision defines artificial intelligence as an engineered or machine-based system with varying levels of autonomy that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from input how to generate outputs capable of influencing physical or virtual environments. It establishes that in any civil action against a defendant who developed, modified, or used artificial intelligence alleged to have caused harm, it shall not constitute a defence to claim that the harm was autonomously caused by the artificial intelligence system. Section 1714.46 also affirms that defendants may raise other affirmative defences, including evidence relevant to causation, foreseeability, or comparative fault involving other persons or entities.