When students and teachers walk into class this semester, they will be entering a new learning environment. One reshaped not just by emerging technology, but by new state laws designed to control how artificial intelligence (AI) is used in schools.
After a landmark 2025 legislative session, California has enacted a set of laws related to AI — from requiring transparency from developers of AI to creating protection for the use of AI in education.
The California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom have recently approved a series of AI laws last year, specifically addressing issues relating to AI model transparency and student safety. In the past, the debate about AI has centered around corporate practices like those in the Silicon Valley, but now these new laws have a direct impact on schools.
One of the centerpiece laws is the Transparency in Frontier AI Act (SB 53). It will require developers of AI models to publish safety estimates and incident reports to the public and the state of California.
The second bill that was signed into law is the AI Chatbot Safeguards for Minors (SB 243), which applies to AI “companion” tools used by minors. This law mandates disclosures and requires safeguards to users that are interacting with AI.
The final law is the AI and Digital Replicas (SB 11). This law will require warnings when specific AI tools generate realistic fake images, audio or videos, and will direct courts to examine authentication standards. This law was enacted without the governor’s signature.
Las Positas’ Academic Senate Administrative Support member, Suzanne Kohler, believes these regulations will have both positive and negative impacts on education.
“I think having guidelines is always helpful,” Kohler said. “If it varies differently based on who your professor is, it can lead to confusion, lack of clarity.”
School districts are already preparing, drafting up plans to follow new guidelines and helping students understand why it is important to cite AI assistance tools.
“It’s still so new,” Kohler said. “I mean, this is a total 180 from how things were even just five years ago. So I think my hope is that eventually things will balance out to be something in the middle between too extreme and not extreme enough.”
Kathleen King, Las Positas’ Instructional Technology Coordinator, also believes these guidelines will be beneficial.
“I think AI has a lot of positives,” King said. “Some of these regulations are really important, and there’s also a lot of positives to AI. It’s like this weird dance right now, figuring out where the line of good and positive things AI is doing for students or for humanity, and where is the ‘Whoa, this feels really messy and gross’ part of it. We all need to kind of come together to push back.”
Some educators remain uncertain about Las Positas’ lack of infrastructure or training to implement AI literacy. Others are cautious about balancing the thin line between academic honesty and dishonesty.
For teachers and students alike, the implementation of these laws will be the first step toward making AI a constructive part of education, rather than a disruptive force.
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Maggie Vander Ende is a staff writer for The Express. Follow her on Instagram @maggie.vanderende.
