Bill dossier · California 2025–26 session · session closed September 30, 2026
Current through · Last editorial review October 1, 2026 · Original snapshot September 18, 2026, 3:00 PM PT (archived below)
AB 1979: Health care services: artificial intelligence
Final status · recorded October 1, 2026
SIGNED SEPTEMBER 30, 2026AB 1979 was signed on September 30, 2026. Operative: Jan. 1, 2027†. It is law; the chaptered text is the controlling version. Source: California 2026 Final Legislative Ledger · Current analysis: California’s Health-AI Experiment Is Now Law.
Archived snapshot — originally current through September 18, 2026, 3:00 PM PTPreserved as originally published. Superseded by the final status above; lifecycle language, deadlines and “pending” states in this section describe the record as it stood on that date, not the current state. The dossier body below (what the bill does, legislative history, analysis and “what happens next”) is the September record.
Bill
AB 1979 (2025-2026)
Internal identity
CA|2025-2026|AB1979
Author
Bonta
Lifecycle
LEGISLATURE PASSED — PRESENTMENT NOT ESTABLISHED
Where it sits
Assembly — engrossing and enrolling
Last recorded action
August 27, 2026
Recorded vote
Senate third reading passed 26 August; Assembly concurrence 66–10, 27 August
Enrollment
ENGROSSING / ENROLLING
Governor
No action announced through 15 September 2026
Urgency
None recorded
Chapter
Not applicable
Verification
VERIFIED
Governor deadline
September 30, 2026
Verified
September 15, 2026
Latest recorded action
August 27, 2026. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments (66–10); to engrossing and enrolling. Senate third reading passed 26 August; Assembly concurrence 66–10, 27 August.
Concurrence. CONCURRED 27 AUGUST 2026 (66–10).
Legislative history
- August 26, 2026. Senate third reading — passed.
- August 27, 2026. Assembly concurrence in Senate amendments, 66–10; to engrossing and enrolling.
What the bill does
Health care services: artificial intelligence — Assembly-passed framework for AI used in health care services; operative duties attach only on enactment.
What it does not do
Legislative passage is complete; the bill is not enrolled to the Governor on the record read here, is not law, and is not operative. No provider or plan duty exists today.
KPSGILL position
No position taken. The subject sits inside the AI & medicine institute; analysis of operative duties waits for the chaptered text.
Open verification items
Named here rather than answered with an assumption.
- Enrollment and presentment entries
- Governor action by 30 September
- Chaptered text and operative date
What happens next
Governor action deadline: September 30, 2026. That is the session-wide date this desk tracks, not a date computed from this bill’s own presentment: enrolment and presentment for this bill are not established on the record read here, and until they are, no per-bill clock can be stated. Every qualifying measure is tracked on the Governor’s Health Bill Desk; scheduled dates sit on the decision calendar.
Sources
- California 2026 Final Legislative Ledger — final executive action, verified through October 1, 2026
- LegiScan — AB 1979 action history
Register: the record store · internal identity CA|2025-2026|AB1979 · verification state VERIFIED · tracker: California Legislature 2026.