In light of increasing concerns about the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in government proceedings, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1159. The bill provides that AI systems, autonomous agents, and robots are excluded from the definition of “persons” who are entitled to take part in governmental processes that are regulated by California’s transparency and governance laws, such as the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act). The bill was enrolled and sent to Governor Gavin Newsom on August 28, 2026. The Governor has until September 30, 2026, to either sign or veto the bill.
What SB 1159 Is Intended to Address
SB 1159 seeks to ensure that state and local governments can continue to meet their obligations to the public under California’s transparency laws and public participation statutes without being overwhelmed by AI-generated requests, comments, or other communications. For example, in 2025, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) voted on proposed regulations to phase out gas-powered home appliances. In response, SCAQMD received tens of thousands of comments regarding those pending regulations, with at least 20,000 of them being generated by an AI-powered platform. The AI-generated comments purported to be from members of the public in SCAQMD’s jurisdiction, but during an audit SCAQMD staffers discovered that public comments were submitted using real people’s names without their knowledge or consent. SB 1159 is intended to address inauthentic or disingenuous AI participation in state and local government processes and ensure that limited public resources are not diverted from the people of California.
What SB 1159 Actually Does
SB 1159 provides that for purposes of the Administrative Procedure Act, Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Coastal Act, California Public Records Act, Legislative Open Records Act, and the Brown Act, the terms “person,” “interested person,” “participant,” “member of the public,” and similar terms do not include AI systems, autonomous agents, robots, or other nonhuman entities.
The bill would authorize governmental agencies to use a “disclosure verification tool” to determine whether AI is present and prohibit a person from knowingly using AI to falsely represent that a natural person appeared before, submitted information to, or engaged with a governmental agency.
Effects on the Brown Act
The Brown Act guarantees public access to local agency meetings, meaning that members of the public may attend, observe, record, and comment at public meetings.
Some commercial AI platforms are designed to automatically join publicly accessible meetings via videoconference platforms, record proceedings, generate transcripts, summarize discussions, identify trends, and distribute reports to subscribers.
SB 1159 reflects a legislative determination that AI systems themselves are not members of the public. If signed into law, it would allow public agencies to distinguish between human attendees and AI participants when establishing rules for virtual meetings. However, enforcing this distinction may present challenges, as agencies could face difficulties in reliably identifying whether a meeting participant is AI or a human, particularly in large or anonymous online settings. SB 1159 merely provides: “A local agency may use a disclosure verification tool that meets the criteria described in Section 22757.2 of the Business and Professions Code to determine if artificial intelligence is present.”
It is unclear whether video conferencing platforms utilized by public agencies for virtual meetings such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom have the “disclosure verification tool” required, or whether they meet the criteria of the Business and Professions Code or the capability to reliably determine whether AI is present.
SB 1159 does not provide public agencies with unfettered authority to prevent members of the public from accessing Brown Act meetings. Agencies must still provide public access consistent with applicable Brown Act requirements. However, SB 1159 appears intended to support the position that an autonomous AI bot has no independent statutory right to attend or participate in a Brown Act meeting because it is not a “person” or “member of the public” under the Brown Act. Accordingly, if SB 1159 becomes law, agencies may have grounds to remove or deny access to AI attendees, particularly when an AI attendee impersonates a human participant. However, SB 1159 does not prohibit a natural person from using AI to facilitate their own engagement with a governmental agency “provided the volume and frequency of the engagement are reasonably consistent with ordinary participation by a natural person.”
Key Takeaway
SB 1159 represents one of California’s first direct attempts to address the growing use of autonomous AI systems in public participation in governance. By declaring that AI systems and autonomous agents are not “persons” for purposes of the Brown Act and other transparency laws, the legislation may provide public agencies with a legal basis to regulate or exclude AI bots that independently attend virtual meetings. However, it is unclear how public agencies can accomplish this as a practical matter. If signed into law, agencies should evaluate their virtual meeting policies, platform settings, and attendance procedures to determine whether additional safeguards are appropriate.
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