Law / United States / 
California
AI-Generated and Digitally Altered Child Sexual Exploitation Matter (SB 1276)
Cal. Penal Code Sections 311.3 and 11165.1 (SB 1276, Ch. 192, Stats. 2026)
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
- Setting the rule reaches
- General
As of .
What it requires
- Enacted and not yet in force: from , do not knowingly develop, duplicate, print, download, stream, access through electronic or digital media, or exchange any representation of information, data or image that contains or incorporates any film, filmstrip, or any digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter depicting a person under 18 years of age engaged in an act of sexual conduct, knowing that it does (Penal Code Section 311.3(a)).
- It is not necessary to prove that the matter is obscene to establish a violation (Section 311.3(b)).
- The prohibition does not apply to law enforcement and prosecution activities in investigating and prosecuting offenses, legitimate medical, scientific or educational activities, lawful conduct between spouses, an employee of a commercial film developer acting within the scope of employment, or matter that is unsolicited and received without knowledge or consent through a system you do not control (Section 311.3(d), (f) and (g)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
A violation of Section 311.3(a) is punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both; a person previously convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or any section of the chapter is punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
Penalty structure
A fine of not more than $2,000, county jail for not more than one year, or both; imprisonment in the state prison after a previous conviction under the subdivision or any section of the chapter.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 2,000
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 311.3 defines the offense and states no duty to keep a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
SB 1276 was chaptered on as Chapter 192 of the Statutes of 2026. It amends Sections 311.3 and 11165.1 of the Penal Code.
Section 311.3 makes a person guilty of sexual exploitation of a child if the person knowingly develops, duplicates, prints, downloads, streams, accesses through electronic or digital media, or exchanges any representation of information, data or image that contains or incorporates any film, filmstrip, or any digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter that depicts a person under 18 years of age engaged in an act of sexual conduct, knowing that the matter depicts such a person.
It is not necessary to prove that the matter is obscene to establish a violation. Subdivision (a) does not apply to the activities of law enforcement and prosecution agencies in the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses, to legitimate medical, scientific or educational activities, or to lawful conduct between spouses.
It does not apply to an employee of a commercial film developer acting within the scope of employment and in accordance with the employer's instructions, provided the employee has no financial interest in the developer. It does not apply to matter that is unsolicited and is received without knowledge or consent through a facility, system or network over which the person or entity has no control.
A violation is punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both, and a person previously convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or any section of the chapter is punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
Section 11165.1 is amended so that sexual exploitation under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act includes a person who knowingly develops, duplicates, prints, downloads, streams, accesses through any electronic or digital media, or exchanges digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter that depicts a person under 18 years of age engaged in an act of sexual conduct.
Under Article IV, section 8(c)(1) of the California Constitution, a statute enacted at a regular session goes into effect on the January 1 next following a 90-day period from its enactment, which for this act is .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates images with AI, generates video with AI or publishes adult content.