---
title: "California law: big companies must let you reach a human"
url: https://blog.vomini.com/blog/california-ab-1609-human-customer-service
date: 2026-09-30T13:30:00+00:00
updated: 2026-10-28T00:21:05.123691+00:00
author: "Roberto R."
section: "Policy"
language: en
site: "Vomini"
license: free to quote with attribution
---

# California law: big companies must let you reach a human

> California signed AB 1609, which makes businesses with more than $500 million in yearly revenue offer a way to ask for a human agent, connect within 15 minutes or book a callback within one business day, and never pass…

On 28 September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1609, by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, as part of a batch of consumer bills. The governor's office described it as a way for customers to reach a human and to know when they are talking to a bot. The law covers customer service chatbots and phone lines at large companies.

Anyone who has typed agent into a support chat five times knows the problem it targets. The chaptered text turns that frustration into specific duties, with deadlines measured in minutes.

## Who it covers

The law applies to a large private business, defined as one with more than $500 million in gross annual revenue nationally that provides goods and services, when it serves customers who live in California. Hospitals, consumer reporting agencies, regulated telephone and water services, and internal business-to-business lines are excluded. Most small and medium businesses fall well below the revenue line.

## What those businesses must do

A covered business cannot present a customer service chatbot as a human. If a reasonable person could be misled, it must say clearly, in the same channel, that the chatbot is AI.

During regular business hours, every customer service channel, chat and phone included, needs a simple way to ask for a human agent. After that request, the business has to make a good faith effort to either connect the customer to an agent within 15 minutes or give a specific appointment within one business day when an agent will call. Once connected, holds should not run past 15 minutes at a time or an hour in total. Requests sent by email, web form or voicemail are not held to the 15-minute rule. Companies that sell online and have a support phone line must post that number clearly on their website.

## Enforcement

Only public prosecutors can bring a case, so customers cannot sue directly under this law. Penalties are up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for each later one. Outages and emergencies beyond the company's control do not count as violations. The text does not set a separate start date, though it refers to channels a business offers as of 1 January 2027.

## What to do if you run customer service

If your company is above the line, test every channel this week: say you want a human and time what happens. If you are a smaller business, the law does not apply to you, but your customers will now get used to this from big brands. Adding a clear way to reach a person, and an honest first line from your bot, is cheap to do, and in the EU the honest first line is [already required](/blog/eu-ai-act-transparency-rules-chatbots).

## What we think

We build AI assistants that answer phones and chats, and the assistants we ship already say they are a virtual assistant when someone asks. A law that also makes a human reachable at large companies is good for trust in all of these tools, including the ones small businesses use.

## Sources

- [Office of the Governor of California](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/28/governor-newsom-signs-commonsense-legislation-to-make-your-life-easier/), 28 Sep 2026
- [California Legislature, AB 1609 chaptered text](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1609)


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Originally published at https://blog.vomini.com/blog/california-ab-1609-human-customer-service